Shadows (Rewrite of Shinobi and the Thief)
by NonaryNathan999
Summary: After killing Dogen, Hebijo Academy's main investor, while also killing the demon he had summoned, Homura and her team became renegades and fled to hide from their school's harsh wrath. But soon they may have to come out of hiding when dark creatures threaten the area where they live and a boy who help them with a kind heart... A boy who knows more than he lets on...
1. Moving On Up

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

"No… No… No… Seriously, where the hell is this place?"

Sighing, Homura rubbed the side of her head with an irritated expression. Looking down at the small slip of paper in her hand, her eyes went up and scanned the streets once again for the location that was written down. But her destination was not in sight, causing Homura to release an annoyed growl.

Normally, Homura wouldn't be wandering the streets due to… certain circumstances. But she had a job to do, and it was her intent to fulfill the requirements that had been set and were expected of her. Or at least she would be performing her duties if she could find the location she was assigned to help at!

A teenager with a part-time job was ordinary. A teenager with a full-time job however was not normal. Then again, Homura was not a normal teenager.

Homura was in fact a shinobi. An evil shinobi. Well, a renegade now actually.

How she turned into a renegade however is quite the tale. But there was an easy way to summarize it up.

It all started about half a year ago. Homura and her friends had fought magnificently against a group of shinobi led by a kunoichi known as Asuka in order to obtain a super-secret ninja art scroll from Hanzo Academy, named after the famous ninja Hanzo Hattori.

Little did she know that Dogen, the main investor of the school she was once a part of known as Hebijo Academy, was treating them all like puppets on strings. Apparently with event after event, Homura and the others had played right into Dogen's plans and wound up resurrecting the demon known as Orochi. With the help of Hanzo Academy, they were able to defeat Orochi, but Hebijo was destroyed in the process.

Since Homura was the one who dealt the killing blow to an important man of Hebijo, she was left with few options for her life. With so little choices, she decided to become a renegade. Everyone else of her group too decided to join her and become renegade themselves.

Breaking out of her thoughts about the past was a shadow she saw on the ground out of the corner of her eye. Judging by the movement, Homura whipped around and arm about to raise up in self-defence. One couldn't be too cautious when being approached by a stranger, especially in her situation.

But when she saw who had approached her from over her shoulder, the body didn't take any steps closer which halted her strike. This allowed the tanned-girl to quickly glance over the person who stood still and despite so flinching slightly at her quick movement.

First of all, this person was male. Second, he looked to be Homura's age give or take a year which meant he was in high school. His hair was black, wavy and unkempt which went well with his dark grey eyes from an aesthetic point of view. He didn't really look like much with the set of black glasses on his face, but Homura knew that looks could be deceiving. He wore an unbuttoned black blazer over a black-trimmed cream sweater, blue jeans and brown shoes.

"…" The boy seemed to have his own eyes linger around the female, mainly taking in the arm that was raised up to elbow his face. "Homura-san?" His voice questioned her identity, his gaze now careful probably due to almost being given a bloody nose suddenly.

Seeing the wary expression the boy had on, Homura quickly fully turned her body and lowered her arm. "Ah, sorry about that." She apologized while folding her arms. "You just startled me. Though it's kind of on you that you came sneaking up behind me without a sound." A nod of her head came after. "But yeah, I'm Homura. Who's asking?" An eyebrow raised up.

"Akira... Akira Kurusu" The boy introduced himself while offering his hand out, which Homura shook after a couple of seconds. "And sorry about that. Fukina-san said that he was waiting for a friend of his to send one of his workers over to help. Since you didn't show up on time, we thought you probably got lost and so I went out to search for you." Akira took another look over her. "Though color me impress that you're not only a teenager working with a moving company but also willing to work on an off day."

Homura shrugged her shoulders. "Just need a way to make more cash. Besides, you're a teenager as well." She stated. It then hit her. "Wait, you're not with the company and you're helping me out with this stuff?"

"Pretty much." Akira nodded his head before gesturing with his hand. "Now come on, let's get going to Fukina-san's place."

Akira then spun around on his feet and started walking in one direction. Homura immediately followed but at a couple of steps away mainly to take in the boy's build once again. She had to ask though… "What the heck is a guy like you doing on his day off school helping move furniture around? You don't have anything better to do?"

"Not really. Homework is done, and I've got a good grasp on all my subjects right now. Though chemistry is still a shaky topic right now." Akira answered without turning his head. "But I'm doing this because the manager of where I work part-time asked me to help out for a favor and some extra pay."

"More money, huh?" Homura put her hands into her pockets while continuing to follow the boy with no noise between them.

…Wait, what? No noise?

Homura narrowed her eyes in a focused stare as she warily looked down towards Akira's shoes. Indeed, his footsteps weren't making a sound. The way that he was walking as well… which ever foot stepped forward, that side of the body would move as well; leg and arm. A technique that is done to minimize noise of the body and clothing for any person that's walking.

It could be a coincidence… but also considering how he approached her without a sound at first as well…

"Here we are."

With her train of thought cut off, Homura blinked and looked up to see Akira walking through a small parking lot towards an apartment complex. Following the boy through the concrete area, up a flight of stairs and through a corridor, Homura made sure to keep her distance when Akira began knocking on the door.

"Fukina-san, I found Homura-san." The black-haired boy announced.

A few seconds later, the door opened to show a middle-aged brunette waving. "Oh, hey Kurusu-san. Nice to meet you, Homura-san. Come on in, I'm still in the middle of boxing everything up before bringing it downstairs. My now former roommate is renting out a truck."

As the door opened wider for them, Akira was the first to step inside. Turning around, he looked over towards the female. "You coming inside?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, coming." Homura nodded her head as she took a couple of long strides to get inside of the building and closed the door behind her. When looking around on the floor, she saw so many little things scattered all over the place ranging from cups and bowls to random pamphlets. "This is a total mess." She sighed while placing a hand onto her forehead.

"That's why you're here. You two can take the living room and kitchen. Anything with black tape slapped on is what I'm taking with me." Fukina instructed, pointing towards the two general areas. "I can take the rest of the rooms. Call me if you need to know anything." With those words spoken, the adult dipped out of sight and into another room of the apartment to leave the two teenagers alone.

Silently for a few seconds, the two of them stood side by side. Wondering what they should do, Homura turned her head only to find that Akira was eyeing her back. "So… do you want to take the kitchen while I work in the living room?" He offered.

Homura looked around once again to see the work that was placed out before her. The kitchen didn't have much, the main concern was just wrapping all the glass things in newspaper or anything of that material. The living room meanwhile had a lot of large, heavy things with tons of boxes meant to store it all.

Was Akira trying to be a gentlemen or something?

Homura wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or insulted.

"…Why don't we just both take care of the kitchen first and then living room together?" Homura suggested, pointing from one place to another with a tanned finger. "It's just newspaper wrapping in the kitchen so it can get done pretty quickly. That way the living room business will be easier."

Akira hummed, putting a hand to his chin and looking over the space. "…Yeah, true enough." He agreed with a nod of his head. "Let's get to it then."

The two of them then began their tasks. Grabbing sheets of newspaper lying around, both worked quickly with ease. Wrapping each bowl or plate, all objects were organized into appropriate boxes with no space wasted to make perfect fits.

Homura was not surprised with herself. Due to her training, dexterity was one of the key aspects of being a shinobi. Due to her status back when she was at Hebijo Academy, it was either excel or be kicked out. Bad things happened to those who were kicked out.

Once again however, Akira's actions caused the girl to keep an eye out on him. The proficiency the boy performed was spectacular. By itself, it wouldn't be too much of an issue and Homura would just leave it as is.

But her mind drifted back towards when they first met. The silence he maintained when approaching and leading her combined with this new dexterous presentation… Things were beginning to add up and she was not liking what the answer was turning out to be.

"…You're staring."

Blinking, Homura recognized that the statement Akira had made was directed to her. Registering his words, she shook her head. "Sorry," She apologized to brush away his attention. "Just blanked out for a moment."

She watched his eyes linger on her body for a few seconds, wondering just what could be going on in that black-haired boy's head. With a few smooth motion, Homura put the last plate in a box, closed the carboard shape, and taped it shut. "Right, now let's start working on the living room."

Brushing past Akira, Homura didn't turn around and she looked about the area for things to grab and store. Seeing a pile of books, she immediately got to work and began organizing everything. After a few seconds, Akira came into her vision once again and helped her go through the boxes.

Just like the first time, silence was exchanged as they both focused on their tasks. It was completely uneventful, which Homura was satisfied about. Nothing unnecessary or too distracting which would create any trouble.

But just because there was nothing too distracting doesn't mean that there was no distractions.

She swore, her thoughts were betraying her since almost for the entire time Akira was on her mind. Just two things… two simple things and Homura couldn't help but be careful. There was no such thing as too paranoid in her situation after all. For all she knew, he could already be aware of her status since he would be a shinobi himself and is just waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

After some time, Homura and Akira began moving everything downstairs. There was a junk that had to be carried around, ranging from large fans to even a television. Though Homura noticed that Akira struggled a bit when they were carrying what could be considered very heavy objects to the average person. Perhaps she should have done the same thing with this suspicious boy around instead of lugging everything around like it was nothing.

They didn't have to wait for the roommate for long with the truck though. To be precise, it only took a couple of minutes. But what greeted them was a sight that Homura couldn't believe even existed.

Burned right into her retinas was a pickup truck that was decorated with what Homura could describe as a magical girl's paint job. The truck was just covered in so many colors and character designs she could practically feel her eyeballs melting in her skull.

"It's like a highlighter puked all over that truck." Homura groaned in agony while closing her eyes and gripping her head.

"Japan sure is an amazing country." Akira deadpanned. "You can almost get anything you need… Even if it's a rental car with anime characters painted on them."

"Hey, looks like you guys got it everything down here!" The man inside of the truck, suspected to be the roommate, waved while getting out. "Sorry for the wait. Now before we load everything up, there is something I need to tell you guys." He then pointed back with his thumb. "There's only two seats in the front, so the other two will have to ride in the back."

…So that meant two of them will have to be seen in public riding such a ridiculous vehicle…

That was one of the most dreadful thoughts Homura had come up with for the day. With almost dead eyes, she turned around to see that Akira probably had the same idea judging by how he was wearing the same look as she was.

Sighing, Akira looked between her and Fukina. "All right… let's do this fair and square…" He raised up a hand and the brunette adult did the same. Confused, Homura followed in suit. "Rock… paper… scissors!"

Immediately understanding the gist of what was happening, Homura caught on quickly. Preparing herself, she struck with the precision of a-

Both her and Akira choose rock while Fukina went with paper.

Before she knew it, everything was piled up in the back of the pickup truck and she was riding out in the open with Akira right next to her.

Sighing, she leaned back against the boxes to both relax and hide herself from the public eye. Hopefully the pay by the end of the day would be worth it. The extra money would be good to keep on the side just in case an emergency would come up back with her comrades.

"…So, Homura-san… you're pretty strong for a girl your age. Do you work out?"

Still lying down, Homura turned her head slightly to see that Akira was still sitting up but was leaning his back against the boxes as well. Feeling the bumps of the road, she squirmed around to make herself a bit more comfortable. "Yeah, I made myself a strict training regimen to stay in shape."

It wasn't a complete lie. Training back in Hebijo was incredibly tough on purpose. You had to be the best of the best if you wanted to survive in such a harsh environment.

"Though I can say the same about you." Homura remarked, making a small movement with her elbow to point at Akira. "You look like a wimp but you weren't that bad when it came to lifting everything up."

Akira simply shrugged his shoulders. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Yes… they can be deceiving." She agreed, looking back up and a silent atmosphere sunk between them once more. Wait, that's right… silent. "I'm curious about something." Homura spoke out, mentally trying to make sure her wording didn't give away her true intentions. "You're a really quiet person, huh?"

Hearing movement next to her, she knew that Akira shifted his body. "What brings that up?" He questioned.

"Well, I just found it weird that when you walk you almost make no sound whatsoever. Not only that, but you're really good with your hands." Homura listed off a couple of things. "Are you some kind of – I don't know – ninja or something?"

Turning her head once more, she saw Akira stare at her with the eyes behind glasses widen slightly. He was unresponsive for a couple of seconds. A small grin soon grew on his face with eyes twinkling in amusement. "I didn't take you for the comedic type." He said.

That comment irritated Homura for some reason.

"But to answer your question, no, I'm not a shinobi." Akira shook his head slowly with his funny face. "Although I am familiar with a couple of their techniques," He revealed which caused Homura to raise an eyebrow. "Like walking silently. They've interested me when I was younger and I so I did my best to replicate them." Lifting his hands, he then wiggled his fingers. "Though that comment you made about my hands I just developed though a few months I had been in Tokyo. What makes you ask?"

"Just curious." Homura waved off.

"Well, in that case, do you mind if I ask you a question as well?"

"You already did."

"Again, didn't take you for the comedic type." He pointed, chuckling when Homura smack his hand to the side. But she rolled her hand in a way to give him the go ahead. "Why is a high-schooler like you working full time and having money trouble?"

Homura went silent, doing her best to keep her eyes trained on Akira. Her body slightly stiffened, getting ready to spring into action just in case something bad were to happen. She wasn't too sure if the boy noticed it or not since he did not visible react. That was not a question she expected from a stranger her age of all things.

Did that mean that Akira knew who she-

[Magical girl, Princess Kami! Listen to my shining, dazzling rhapsody!]

Springing up from her flat position, Homura spun around to give an incredulous look inside of the truck. Hearing Akira groan but not move (an indication that he accepted his fate), Homura ignored the boy anyways to bang against the window that separated her from the two at the front of the vehicle.

"Oi, don't go playing anime songs at full blast!" She shouted angrily.

"But it's my set of godly anime songs for when I go out driving!" The roommate shouted in return, slightly turning his head so he could pay attention to the road.

From her small glass view, she noticed another thing. "Can you at least roll up your windows then?! There are people that can hear us!"

"But I love the breeze as the car drives!" Fukina responded back. "Oh, red light up ahead."

"Come on, give us a break will you!" Homura continued pounding on the back of the truck as it came to a halt.

Those passing by didn't know what to think when seeing a truck with anime girls painted on blasting music with a bunch of stuff and two people riding in the back as one of them being an attractive tanned teenager was punching a window repeatedly.

**SmokeBombBreak**

"Put the fridge there! Fold the boxes and put them here!"

As the night went on, Homura and Akira followed the orders of Fukina about where should go where. Homura was indeed strong and had lots of stamina, but she could only do so much on her own. That could be said for any person. She was at least thankful that Akira was there to help her out.

"Okay, we're pretty much done. Thanks for the help." Fukina nodded his head.

"Haa, we're finally done." Homura sighed while rolling his arms. Even Akira had his hands on his hips and was leaning backwards as far as he could. Eyeing his back when she heard a couple of pops, Homura brought her attention back to Fukina. "Alright, that's a good 8 hours of work. Plus since I'm working overtime, the amount that I'll be paid should be-"

"Apologies for cutting you off Homura-san," The man raised his hand, interrupting the tanned girl. "But why exactly are you telling me this?"

"…What?" Homura folded her arms while giving a puzzled look. "Because I was told that I was going to be paid hour and a half for helping you out."

"Yes, that does make sense." Fukina nodded in agreement. "But what made you think that it was coming from me personally? After all, I already paid my fee to your boss."

"…Oh, right." Homura felt the urge to bang her head right against a wall due to the absolute stupidity she had displayed. "Sorry about that. It's just been a long day."

"No problem, I have worked you two to the bone after all." Fukina stated. "But I'll definitely tell your boss about all the hard work you pulled off. Who knows, maybe you'll get a raise from it as well."

Nodding her head, Homura said her farewell and walked out of the door. But as she began to make her way down the stairs and through the parking lot, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in herself.

The funds they had been making were low. Yes, they could begin using their emergency reserves but that was purely meant for dire situations. It's just that such a scenario was becoming apparent now.

Not only that, but she had promised that with pay she thought she would have made today, she was going to buy some nice food for them all instead of having to nibble on whatever the wild provided for them.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she spun around sharply with hands about to raise only to see Akira right behind her. Exhaling loudly through her nostrils, she put her hands on her hips. "Please stop sneaking up on me like that." She commented, mentally cursing herself that the boy got the jump on her. "Anyways, what do you want?"

Akira lifted his hands up. "Fukina-san gave us a couple of moving sobas." He informed while handing one of the cup noodles to Homura, making the girl simply stare at the object. "I was thinking that we both could go to a convenience store and eat them together. Food tastes better with company as they say."

Those may have been the words that were said, but Homura knew that there were hidden intentions behind Akira's offer. The boy was very observant from what she could tell. She knew that he noticed her frustration and disappointment with her very short conversation with Fukina.

But despite wanting to say no at first, she couldn't help but feel like she should say yes.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Sitting down while gazing out of the window towards the night, Homura's spirits were lifted slightly with the small amount of warm food filling her belly. Slurping up the noodles, it felt kind of odd simply relaxing in such a place with a stranger keeping her company. Bringing the cup up to her face, she gulped down the broth.

"Phew, that's the stuff!" Homura breathed with relief and wiping her mouth with her arm. Watching Akira, the boy had just began drinking his own broth. "So…" She rested her arm on the counter they were sitting at. "That's it? You just wanted to sit and eat your soba with me?" She already knew that there was another reason, but she brought it up just in case it slipped his mind.

Akira swallowed the liquid. Slowly setting his utensils down, he then wiped his mouth with a napkin. Turning to the side, they both made eye contact with each other. "I just wanted to apologize." He stated.

Homura drummed her fingers. "What do you need to apologize for?"

"For earlier, when I asked you my own question." Akira reminded her, causing Homura to slow her finger movement. Judging by the small drift of his eyes, Akira noticed. "You may be going through some tough times right now and I was insensitive to ask you about it."

…Question?

Blinking, Homura soon realized what Akira was talking about. "On the back of the pickup truck…"

"Yeah…" Akira scratched the back of his head. He lifted his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, I don't know how or why you are in the situation you are in now, but…" Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a few bills of cash and pushed them over towards her without another word.

Understanding what Akira was trying to do, Homura slid the money back. "I appreciate the gesture, but that's unnecessary." She stated. "If I'm to make money, I would rather earn it than rather be given a donation of pity."

Akira however was quick with his words. "Then consider this," He pushed the pile back. "A forward pay for a potential job for you." Homura slightly turned her head. "You need money. From what I've seen, you are extremely fit and healthy for someone your age. So, how about taking up a side gig as a personal trainer of mine?"

Homura stared. "Why the hell don't you just hire an actual trainer?" She deadpanned. "Plus, I got the moving company I'm working with."

Her response caused Akira to chuckle once. "True." He agreed. "But then it's you who also needs help, right? Plus, I'm sure that we can find a way to work around that schedule of yours. All you must do is let me know what days can and can't work for you. Not only that, but we can work out a price that you can work with. The average mover makes about 1500 yen an hour, yes?"

Thinking, what Akira said was kind of true. Money was an important factor. Working with the moving company was kind of boring when there was nothing to do so Akira's offer could alleviate that boredom. Not only that, but negotiate fees? That was something Homura could work with.

"…Three thousand yen per hour." Homura stated, causing Akira to look surprised. "That's my fee."

"I think 2300 yen an hour is fair."

"Then 2700 yen."

"In that case, 2500 yen should be the perfect price to settle on then."

Biting on her lips, Homura wanted to up her rate up just a little bit more. But she realized just how unprofessional it may be, she took a deep breath. "…Sounds fair." She reluctantly agreed. Seeing Akira raise his hand, she shook it to symbolize that their deal was finalized.

Akira then pulled out a pen and wrote down a series of numbers on a new napkin. "Here's my number then." He pushed over towards her. Standing up, he then shoved the money that was on the counter over as well. "Pleasure doing business with you. Get yourself something nice before going home."

As he walked away, Homura watched as the boy retreated. Just before he could get too far, she quickly pocketed the money and number before dumping the garbage. Exiting the store, she looked left and right before seeing where Akira had gone.

Now focused, she began to follow the boy.

Through the streets, Homura made sure that she not only kept her distance but also so that she close enough to not be noticed. Many may think it was easy. But for a shinobi, it was best to be cautious due to never knowing whether or not the target had their own ways of being aware if they were being trailed.

Homura still had her suspicions of the boy. The movement of a shinobi. Trained dexterity. High charisma. This boy was an entity that she did not want to leave unchecked. Especially since he had interacted with her which potentially risked her team being exposed.

After a few minutes, she stepped back into a building's shadow when Akira crossed the street towards a house facing them. Taking in the structure, she was intrigued at how big the house was. Looking up and down, she could found herself admiring the building for a second.

But within that second, she noticed something on the roof.

Up above Akira as he was entering the house was a figure. Due to the darkness of the night, Homura couldn't really make out who was there. From what she could see though, this figure had piercing yellow eyes and was gazing so intently at Akira that they didn't notice her.

As soon as the boy had closed the door behind him, the figure didn't seem to have any other reason to linger as they ran to the other side of the roof and out of Homura's sight.

That display made Homura frown. That didn't help with her thoughts at all. If anything, it concerned her even more. Did that mean that Akira was still a shinobi and they were just confirming that he had returned safely. Maybe Akira was a target for some reason…

Either way, Homura knew that she had to keep an eye on this Akira character in the future.

As she turned around and began heading back towards her hideout, she didn't see a pair of grey eyes watching her from the house she had just been looking at.

**Yeah, rewrote this series… After 3 chapters…**

**I just didn't really like how I first portrayed Akira to the girls. Hopefully I made this better and will keep such quality up compared to how it was before the rewrite.**

**No flames please.**


	2. Hands On Work

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Ringing the doorbell, Yomi soon waited for the door to be opened.

Taking a look at the numbers above the frame, the blonde had to reconfirm that she was at the correct address. If would feel awkward to be standing in front of the wrong house after all.

But Yomi couldn't help feeling slightly irritated at the sight of the building. A large house that looked average to hide the fact that it was easily expensive and that rich people were living inside it. For the sake of her situation though, all she had to do was grin and bear with it.

It shouldn't be too much of a problem for her though. She was a shinobi after all.

Not only that, but she also understood that rich people had their own varying troubles. Yomi learned this the hard way with Ikaruga, much to the former's dismay. Even if Ikaruga forgave her due to the hatred Yomi once felt towards her, it still didn't take away the fact that she felt a little guilty to the girl with the higher social status.

Hearing the click of a door, Yomi quickly hid her concerned face with a smile. She had to look professional in case this person wanted her help again.

Her face twitched with surprise though at the sight of the person who answered the door.

A teenager her age stood in the doorway. All she could really make out from his body was that he had grey eyes and black, curly unkempt hair. The reason why Yomi was so surprised was because of what he was wearing. Covering most of his body was an apron while a mask covered the bottom half of his face.

With a roll of paper towels underneath one arm and a bunch of bottles inside of a basket that he was carrying in the other hand, the boy stood in front of the partially stunned blonde. "Yomi-san?" He asked curtly, eyes squinting slightly to focus.

Blinking, Yomi nodded her head.

Shuffling the paper towels into the basket, he offered a hand. "Akira Kurusu." The boy introduced him. But Yomi remained surprised at his appearance and didn't notice the hand to shake. In response, Akira retracted it a couple of seconds later when he saw that Yomi was just staring. "Well, come on in. I already managed to get a head start in a couple bathrooms."

"Ah, pardon the intrusion then." Seeing the boy step to the side, Yomi took that as the signal to step inside. Speaking her thanks, she looked around the interior of the house.

As she expected, it was incredible display of which she could possibly describe as a little Victorian. Wooden tiles decorated the floor, the lines mismatched yet created a cohesive pattern altogether. In front of her was a set of a flight of stairs leading up towards the second floor and a small hallway right to its right that led towards a few rooms from what she could see. To her right meanwhile was a space which she could summarize up as a library; judging by how two shelves filled with books were on either side of a fireplace with a couple of comfortable chairs nearby.

Despite all of this… the atmosphere was… hollow and empty.

"A pretty interesting place, huh?" Akira's voice reminded Yomi of where she currently was, making the blonde turn and look at the boy. "Just a couple of steps through the entrance and already there is a lot to take in."

The matter-of-fact tone and the facts Akira spouted almost made Yomi's face twitch but she kept control of her muscles. "Yes, it really is." She had to agree with him though. The setting was both interesting and there was a lot to take in at the same time. "Although I thought that the time that the people coming to clean was right now. Why are you here so early?"

Confusion spread across Akira's eyes which made Yomi blink. Was her question that puzzling to him?

"Yomi-san, I live here."

"…Oh."

Once again, Yomi looked over Akira. If she was surprised at the first look over the boy, she now felt shock for the second scan.

Wait a minute, that meant that this boy was the one who she had contacted when applying for this job! He was the one who wanted her to work in his household and yet he was going to help as well? Not only that, it meant that he was willing to put in the effort despite being rather wealthy. That… wasn't normal from her expectations.

…Then again, Ikaruga didn't match up to her expectations either.

Wait, maybe he was just a child of the actual owners and the parents were working. Akira could really be just watching over the house and was told to help her out.

"Well, enough standing around." Akira stated, turning around and motioning with his free hand for her to follow him. "Come on now, let's grab you some appropriate clothing before we begin." With his words spoke, he began walking down the hall part of the house.

Yomi immediately followed without another word or complaint. Akira turned to the left when he had the opportunity and disappeared around the corner. Turning as well, Yomi was lost for a split second before seeing that it was actually a sharp left she had to make was there was a staircase that Akira was already descending down.

Taking soft steps down the wood, Akira had already taken another left by the time she was halfway down. Arriving to the bottom and looking over, the boy had disappeared from her sight, leaving a shadow in another room due to the lighting.

As she arrived, she realized that Akira was rummaging around what looked like to be a combination of a dining room and a kitchen. This time the flooring was dark polished wood. A nice-looking table with a few chairs was to her left as she had entered the area. To her right meanwhile was a counter with a bunch of cooking appliances installed around. Cabinets holding all sorts of fine china and glasses were neatly organized just like the drawers that no doubt held cutlery in similar standard. To the far right however was a pair of double doors with glasses windows that had curtains covering the other side.

Feeling movement brush along her leg, she looked down curiously and saw a black cat walking past her. The feline then turned around and made eye contact with her. Both pairs of blue eyes locked with each other and refused to look away.

"…Huh." Yomi could only muster as she had the urge to bend her knees onto the floor and beckon it towards her. Giving into that feeling, the blonde motioned with her hands for the cat to come towards her. "Here, kitty. Here, kitty, kitty." She tried. But it looked disinterested and turned around while yawning.

But as it began to walk away, Yomi's watchful eyes noticed a pair of legs approach. Shifting her head, she saw that Akira's eyes held an amused twinkle behind his mask. "I see Morgana has your attention." He said, still holding his basket under one arm, this time having it hold an apron and mask with the various bottles. In his other hand was a slice of sashimi for some reason. "Here, try giving this to him to grab his."

…Where did he get that? From the fridge? She didn't hear him open the door. Maybe she was just too focused on the cat which she now knew was named Morgana.

Taking the fish, she now noticed that Morgana was staring at her hungrily. Well, at the sashimi to be more precise. Bringing the morsel of food down, she watched the cat walk up towards her and sniff the food. "Aww." Yomi giggled and cooed as Morgana began eating the treat, gently stroking the top of its head with her other hand.

As Morgana purred and meow, Akira for some reason began to chuckle. That caused Yomi to gaze at Akira once again. "Sorry," He apologized mid-laugh with a shake of his head. "It's just that Morgana is really liking the way you're petting him."

Akira's laughter must have been infectious since Yomi began to grow a smile as well and laugh. "Is that so?" She cupped the hand that once had fish in it for Morgana to continue sniffing as she scratched his chin. "That's good to hear, Morgana-chan."

The feline only mewed once again in response, burying its face into her palm. Stroking the top of its head and body next, Yomi noticed the quality of its fur. It was incredible, meaning that the cat was being taken care of in a good manner. She wondered if Mirai would take a liking to Morgana as quickly as she did. The smaller girl did look like a cat whenever in her shinobi attire.

"As amusing as it is watching Morgana being spoiled, I'm afraid that I must remind you why you are here in the first place."

Looking up, Akira had not moved a muscle through the entire time her attention was focused on the cat. "Oh, right! I'm sorry!" She quickly got up to her feet and bowed in apology. How could she be this distracted by a cat so easily? Was she slacking off enough for her mind to wander? Oh, Homura wouldn't be happy if she found out about this!

Akira shrugged. "Well, at least we got back on track." He noted, handing the spare apron and mask to Yomi. "Put these on and it's a good idea to tie your hair up as well. We'll begin by focusing on the bottom – which is here – and work our way up. We are going to try to clean everywhere but two places: my room over there and the basement which is down there."

While Yomi was quickly fastening her clothes and working on her hair, she focused on Akira's words at the same time. Looking over to the double doors, she noted that was his room and then the small area outside of the dining area where she saw a door just like the one that took her down to the current floor she was on.

The bedroom she could understand. It was a private space and Akira probably already finished it. But the basement? Once again, it could be that he had already cleaned it…

But he made no mention of that fact. Was Akira hiding something down there?

No matter. It would be best not to dwell on it. She had a job to do and it was to follow what her employer wanted within reason.

"Understood." Yomi nodded with a hint of determination behind her voice, eyes narrowing with anticipation.

Akira nodded back as Morgana scampered out of the room. "Good. Then let's get to it."

**SmokeBombBreak**

While it didn't start out as bad as Yomi expected, all of her effort began to affect her in the end.

It all started with the dining room and just moving the table and chairs out with Akira's help. After dusting and cleaning the floor, they moved everything back in and went to the second (ground) floor.

That was when things started getting a little complicated. Akira had them work in separate rooms to perform their own tasks. He said that he would start in the library while Yomi took one of the work rooms. The problem was that the first room she had chosen was stacked with papers along with a couple of computers and printer.

At least the second room wasn't too bad since they had met up to work together in it.

The third floor however were considered the worst since Yomi chose to clean the third floor. With that said, Akira had moved up to the fourth floor. The blonde had completely underestimated the amount of work that she had to put into the third floor. Just like the second floor, there were plenty of rooms that had similar situations. Instead of paper, there were more computers and even televisions this time.

It didn't exactly help either that Homura had trained her to the bone this morning to make sure that Yomi was in shape. She knew that their leader was trying to keep them prepared but that didn't mean that she had to fight them until they were nearly breathless. Everyone still had to do their part to help each other survive.

But Yomi managed to finish her task. Yes, she was incredibly sore. But she was used to the pain, not that it helped.

Panting while sitting in a chair on the third floor which she had just finished, she tried to take deep breath to put herself at ease. If there was one satisfying thing now, it was the fresh scent that entered her nose due to the results of her work.

Who knows, maybe she did such a good job that Akira would give her a bonus.

"…Wow, I can actually see my reflection in the floor."

The corners of Yomi's mouth twitched. Those words were a good sign.

Tiredly, she turned her head to see Akira with wide eyes as he began taking off the apron and mask. "Yes, you certainly can." Yomi breathed with a hint of pride behind her voice. At least she thought it was pride. She was too tired to tell.

She watched the boy's face morph into a frown the longer he stared at her however. "You're absolutely exhausted." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"It just shows how much effort I put into this job." The blonde replied, sliding down into the chair a bit. It was taking a lot of energy to just sit up straight.

That answer did not appear to impress Akira however. "You do realize there is a phrase called overworking yourself, right?"

His question was met with silence from a slightly annoyed Yomi. She had looked at him and he was only sweating. "I didn't do such a thing. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Akira did not look convinced. After a few more seconds of staring, he sighed and walked over. Yomi was surprised when Akira slung her arm around his shoulder. Feeling him then stand up straight, she was brought up onto her feet.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Yomi questioned, stumbling slightly at the sudden movement.

Akira stumbled around as well, but mainly due to the change in weight. "Bringing you too a proper surface for you to rest on." He grunted, regaining his balance and began limping out of the room with Yomi in tow.

It was then during the movement that Yomi noticed something. The limping was a combination of two things: exhaustion and the courtesy of keeping her comfortable. The movements were lagging, but he managed to maintain posture and a firm grip so he wouldn't be tugging too hard or little on her arm.

The trip up the flight of stairs to the fourth floor took about a minute or two, but Yomi had to admit that she admired the boy's tenacity. Especially since he was a rich kid.

Shuffling into one of the rooms, Yomi noticed how empty it was despite it containing a queen-sized bed only. Feeling her body weight shift, Yomi was gently let down face first onto the mattress as Akira helped her.

She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when her entire body was resting on the comfortable surface. Despite her body still feeling heavy and sore, it was a nice feeling or relaxation. The entire room smelled good as well, the indication that it had been freshly cleaned by Akira.

The sound of cracking knuckles then entered her ears.

Snapping her head around, she saw that Akira had a fist curled up while his other hand was pressing into the fingers of the fist. "…" He froze in that position due to Yomi's sudden movement.

"…" Yomi stared back.

"…"

"…"

The awkward, silent exchange between the two of them was passed around until Akira decided to break it.

"Sorry, did I startle you?"

"…Uh, yes." Yomi dryly, giving Akira a weird look (mainly at his hands). "May I ask what in the world you were planning to do?" She stayed wary now. Despite her sore body, she was sure that she could easily defend herself against Akira if he tried to do anything strange to her.

"Give you a massage."

"…Eh?"

Okay, so he was going to do something strange. But before she could conclude to go on the defense, he explained himself.

"Your body is sore and massages usually help with things like that. I learned a thing or two about massages and how they work back in Tokyo. But that was only lecture-wise while I was being given such rubs." He informed the blonde before holding both hands up like a surgeon and rolling his fingers. "So right now, I thought that I'd get some physical practice in… Although in hindsight I really should have asked for your permission before even beginning."

"…A massage?" Yomi asked, not sure if she properly understood Akira's reasoning and trying to make sure that she heard everything properly.

"Pretty much." Akira nodded.

…What did cracking knuckles have to do with massages? Were they a technique done to loosen the fingers for better performance? Maybe a ritual to try rid the fingers of tension therefore it would rid the tension of the body it was rubbing?

Massages were a lot stranger and had a lot more thought put into them than Yomi expected.

Her eyes drifted over toward his hands once again. "…Are you sure that this can help out my soreness?"

Akira nodded once in confirmation.

Keeping her eyes on the boy for a bit longer, she decided to trust her back to him. After all, if he tried anything funny she could easily retaliate. Putting her head down onto the pillows, she watched Akira stretch his fingers one last time before shifting over and putting his knees down on the mattress next to her body. He then reached over and began pressing his hands against her.

Yomi took in a deep breath as the pressure began.

Akira was right in the mind when he decided to give her a massage. She could already feel her body getting lighter. Any fatigue she was feeling was melting away with the amount of force Akira kept pressing onto her.

Although it was strange though. Yomi wondered how Akira was so strong. It felt like her body was being kneaded with iron rods.

"How is the amount of force I'm using, Yomi-san?" Akira asked, working on her lower back.

"…It's perfect." She sighed aloud.

He breathed with relief. "Phew. Didn't thing I'd be able to do that on the first try."

As the rubbing continued, Yomi felt herself drift off into darkness before falling asleep.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Moaning, Yomi wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

Where… was she?

Ah, that's right. Akira's house.

…Wait, Akira's house…

Pushing herself off of the mattress in a startled manner, Yomi immediately got on her feet. Looking around, she saw that there was nothing and nobody suspicious around. In fact, the only change to the room was that Morgana was at the other side looking startled.

Yomi felt embarrassed with herself. Mainly due to falling asleep inside a stranger's house; unknown territory. Shaking her head, she saw that there was a piece of paper on the ground.

Odd, she remembered the place being clean.

Bending her knees, she picked up the scrap. Taking a bit of a closer look, her name was written down. Opening the paper, she saw that there were more words inside.

"If you are reading this, I'm just letting you know that I went out to buy some groceries. When I come back, I will give you your payment. But if you like, you can stay for dinner when I finish making it." She read aloud the message that had been written down for her.

So that meant that Akira had gone out and left her alone inside of this household.

…He trusted her enough to do such a thing?

Probably not. It was more likely that he didn't consider the possibility of her waking up in time… Scratch that. Him writing that note meant that he had considered her waking up while he was gone.

Speaking of waking up, what time was it?

Reaching into her pocket and grabbing her phone, she blinked when she saw the time. Had she really fallen asleep for only a couple of hours? She felt as if it had been longer.

Still, it felt slightly awkward for her to have napped inside of an employer's house. Yomi made a small note to apologize when Akira came back. Maybe she would have to turn down his dinner invitation as well. He already was doing enough by paying her and letting her rest.

Stretching her body, she walked outside of the room and remembered that she was on the fourth floor. She began to grow slightly curious. What was the fourth floor like? Yomi had only cleaned the third, second, and first floor. Was it basically the same as the rooms she had cleaned?

Deciding to look around, she was correct. Other the bedroom, the fourth floor was basically the same as the third floor. That was when Yomi realized that this building had a lot of work rooms for some reason? Why was that? Was this place originally supposed to be an office of sorts?

This place had so many rooms. Well, the building was pretty big after all.

Making her way downstairs, she reached the second floor and remembered that there was a small library in the house. Walking into the room, she looked up to see the books in a neat order. Although there were some strange titles she did not expect, she didn't take any interest in trying to grab one.

Peeking out of the window, she saw that nobody was nearby which made her wonder how much longer Akira was going to be.

Still wandering around the house, it was only a single moment that she found herself in the dining room and kitchen area.

The one room that linked two places she didn't clean.

Feeling something brush past her leg, she looked down and saw Morgana walking by once again. Yomi looked back up though and saw that she was standing right in front of the bedroom door.

She had to admit, she was curious.

Walking over, she grabbed the knob and hesitated for a bit. Yes, she was curious. But should she really be doing this? She shouldn't… But Akira wasn't here at the moment. There would be no way for him to find out.

…Maybe just for a few seconds.

Pulling the door open, all Yomi did was peek inside.

It was… normal.

For the first time looking inside of a boy's room, Yomi expected a few more things. But inside here was a bed, desk, couch, and table. It was rather plain to her. She at least expected a few more decorations since Akira appeared to be wealthy.

Closing the door, Yomi turned her head towards the outside of the dining room where the basement door was.

Once again, curiosity was an incredible factor that was in Yomi's mind. Walking over, she grabbed the basement door and opened it. Looking down, she saw the staircase that led down. The walls instead of a nice polished look now had crude stone and brick walls.

Stepping forward, the first step she put her weight on creaked which startled her slightly. Peeking around the hallway as if someone was going to show up, she only saw Morgana running back up the stairs towards the second floor.

Shrugging her shoulders at the odd display, Yomi slowly made her way down the stairs and found herself surprised at the sight.

Firearms and weapons.

Pistols. Knives. Slingshots. Curved swords. Bludgeons. Submachine guns. Whips. Assault rifles. Katanas. Revolvers. Tekko. Grenade launchers. Battleaxes. Rifles. Rapiers.

All these weapons were mounted on the walls, being displayed in the open. That wasn't the weird thing about them though. Yomi knew that all the melee weapons were fake… at least at first glance they were. It was just mainly the guns…

All the guns were real… That she could say for sure.

"Well aren't you the curious type…"

Startled, Yomi whipped her head around to see Akira at the top of the staircase with a few bags of groceries in his hand staring at her.

Yomi froze at the boy's gaze, slowly sliding her legs apart. "K-kurusu-san…" She managed to get out before almost spreading her arms out in defence.

Akira stared at her for a few seconds. He then released a sigh. Putting the bags down to the side of the staircase, Akira began climbing down the steps as well. Cautiously, Yomi shuffled away in order to give space towards the boy.

When he reached the end, he kept his eyes on her. His gaze then moved around the room, eyeing each section with sharp eyes as if he was making sure everything was in place. "So…" He began slowly. "What do you think of my collection?"

His question was so nonchalant along with his tone Yomi couldn't help but be taken off-guard. "I'm sorry, I beg your pardon?" She asked.

Akira spread his arms out in a presenting manner. "What do you think of my collection?"

Yomi decided to risk parting her stare from his to look over the room once again. "It's… unique." It then popped into her head. "Wait, your collection? These don't belong to your parents? What are you doing with a bunch of guns?"

Akira shook his head. "Nope, all of these are mine." He answered. "I took up a hobby of collecting them back during my time in Tokyo last year. Besides," He reached up to grab a pistol before handing the gun towards her. "It's actually fake. They just happen to look realistic."

Cautiously, she reached her hand out. Gingerly, she took the weapon from the boy and began looking over it with a critical scan.

He was right, the firearm was fake. Releasing the magazine, Yomi placed it on the table before turning the safety on and looking down the sights. For a fake, it was quite a spectacular piece of work.

From her aiming, she saw how surprised Akira was. "You're familiar with guns?" He asked.

Yomi blinked. "Ah, not really." She shook her head while sliding the magazine back in. "I'm only know a couple of things about them. I just have a friend that really knows her stuff about guns, from how they should be used to cleaning them."

"Really?" Akira was now curious. "She knows about cleaning them?" Yomi nodded, wondering why that was the one thing he was asking. "Would you mind giving me her number or vice versa? I've been wanting to clean these for a while but not only is it time consuming, the days I can do it are limited. I'll also pay for her services as well if she wants."

The blonde blinked at the sudden request. Should she accept it? There… weren't really any downsides to saying yes she could think of at the moment. Yomi nodded her head in response.

Akira nodded back. "That's good to know." A moment of silence passed between them and Akira began to look a bit awkward. "Would it be okay for me to…" He pointed at the pistol that was still in her hands.

"Ah, of course!" She gave back the gun, wondering why Akira looked like that. The boy had been rather straight faced the entire time yet this was what was embarrassing him? It was as if nothing could bother him earlier.

"Well then," He mounted the gun back on the wall. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Yomi had completely forgotten about the invitation and was about to respond when her stomach growled.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Yomi concluded that she would have regretted saying no to his invitation if she knew this was what Akira was serving.

It took her by a bit of surprise that Akira could cook as well. Then again, she now knew that Ikaruga could cook as well so perhaps it shouldn't be too overwhelming.

When Akira had plated curry and rice for her, her first taste of the meal was delightful. From what she saw as well, a majority of these ingredients were simple to use so she could also make this curry for her friends when it would be her turn to cook.

Despite her compliments and her insistence that this was the best curry ever (though it could use some beansprouts), Akira completely shot her down. Apparently, he claimed that title belonged to a café owner all the way in Tokyo who had taught the boy such an art in the first place.

She did find it strange though that Akira was spoon feeding Morgana curry (which he also stated that the feline had no problems with).

After she finished almost half of her meal, she noticed another thing. Despite the size of the table, there was only two of them (three if she counted Morgana). Now that she noticed this, the setting around them almost seemed… empty. Especially since she had been eating with her fellow shinobi for a long time.

Yomi choked on a spoonful of curry when she remembered that she didn't let the other know she would be away. Not only that, but it was also her turn to cook dinner.

"Is everything quite alright, Yomi-san?" Akira asked with some concern on his face while handing over a couple of napkins.

"Ye-yes! I'm fine!" Yomi coughed a few times. "It's just that I remembered that I was supposed to be back home by a certain time and it's coming up soon!"

Akira took out his phone. Looking at the screen, his eyes flickered over towards Yomi before he pocketed the device. "I do suppose it would be best for you to head back home right now. Just please wait a couple of moments though."

Yomi wondered what he wanted as Akira dashed up the stairs. Finishing her plate while watching Morgana lap up the curry sauce (she debated whether cats could eat curry) she heard Akira swiftly march his way back down the stairs with a wad of cash in his hand.

"First of all, your payment." He announced, placing it right next to Yomi's plate before taking it. Akira then began rummaging through his cabinets until he found a couple of very large containers. Scooping a lot of rice into one, he then poured out the curry from the pot into the second one until it was full. "Next, you can take some curry with you. Just make sure to return the containers back to me."

Taken aback by the amount given to her, she was hesitant. "Err… Are you sure you are okay with giving me all of this?" She questioned. "Shouldn't you at least save some for the rest of your parents?"

Akira blinked and turned his head to stare at her. For some reason though, that gaze slightly unnerved her. "Yomi-san… My parents don't live here…"

"O-oh…"

That explained a lot. Why Akira had done the cleaning on his own. Has some knowledge about a couple of strange things which must have taken time to learn. He did the cooking on his own which must have been another nice way to kill time. He seemed almost too independent.

Why she thought the house was feeling empty.

Feeling embarrassed about her question, she decided it was maybe best to leave right now. "Well, thank you for having me and giving me this food." She pocketed the money, not bothering to count it, while taking the containers from Akira's hands.

Akira nodded his head and began to lead her up the stairs. Making their way to the entrance, he opened the door for her. "Good night, Yomi-san." He said his parting words to her. "Be sure to let your friend know about my offer."

"Of course. Good night, Kurusu-san." Yomi slipped past the boy and began walking down the steps towards the sidewalk. But when she was halfway down, something came up into her head. She shouldn't say it… but… "Kurusu-san…"

She turned around to see that Akira was still holding the door open. Was he waiting until she was out of sight before he closed the door?

"Would it be okay for me to come back here and you show me how to make curry as delicious as yours?" Yomi asked, a bit of red flushing on her cheeks in embarrassment. "It's just… I would like to know how to make it very tasty… Perhaps learn how to give massages as well? They could be good as my friends are going through some tough times and need some help physically relaxing…"

Akira blinked with his eyes slightly widening at Yomi's questions. To her surprise, his lips grew a small smile. "As long as you let me know and if I happen to be free." He answered with a chuckle.

Once again, Akira's amusement was infectious as Yomi grew a smile herself. "I'll be in contact with you soon then!" With a confident nod of her head, she began walking back down the steps and across the street where the hideout was as Akira closed the door behind himself.

When walking, Yomi didn't notice of a figure with a dark clothing climbing out of the staircase that led towards the basement from the outside and sneaking away hastily.

**There we go! Whew, it was tough trying to figure out how Yomi and Akira would interact as well as try and nail her personality. Honestly… Yomi is one of the characters of the Senran Kagura series I don't hate… but I find her kind of bland at the same time. So I hope I wrote her well enough so far…**

**No flames please.**


	3. Workplace Wonders

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Hikage looked up from the table that she had been cleaning when she heard a door close.

Why was she cleaning a table? Well, that was because it was a part of her job now to do so.

Her current job was working at a café… or was it considered a restaurant? It was a place that served food and drink to customers, so what was the difference? Well, that didn't really matter. All she did know was that she was a worker there and she had to do her part in order to get paid.

But while she was doing her part, she had looked up to see a boy in a school uniform with black, curly hair and grey eyes behind glasses. Normally, she would tell people who walked in at this time that they were currently closed. However, there was a reason she was going to make an exception for this person.

"…Kurusu-san."

"Hikage-san."

Last name Kurusu. First name Akira. He was a worker at this establishment like her, except he was part time due to his situation of having to attend to school. Despite that situation, he was actually her senior for this job due to working here longer than her. While he did show her the ropes on what her duties were, he was also assigned to be tasked in the kitchen.

That bit confused Hikage a bit as well. Wouldn't it have been simpler for him to just be assigned to one job in the building so his pay wouldn't be too confusion.

The two of them nodded to each other. They didn't really know each other too well. It was just a common courtesy that they were passing to one another.

Hikage watched as Akira proceeded further into the restaurant where there were other waitresses greeting the boy but with smiles this time. Just like her, Akira returned the gesture but with the smile included. After that, he walked towards the back to get changed out of his school uniform into the proper clothing that was required.

"Eito-san. Reso-san." Hearing their names from the green-haired girl, both females looked up "Is there a point to smile whenever saying hello?" Hikage asked aloud while looking back at the other waitresses. "It's just a simple greeting, right?"

Both waitresses looked at each other in confusion, which caused Hikage to tilt her head in confusion. Was her question that strange?

"Hikage-san," The blonde one named Eito was the first to answer while meeting Hikage's gaze. "You may be right. But it all depends on your attitude." She informed, causing the green-haired girl to blink. "Yes, saying hello is basic. But just putting on an expression can change the meaning. Like wearing a smile to show that you are friendly and welcome them. Maybe putting on a glare shows that you are hostile or mad despite you saying hello."

During her explanation, the blonde put on the exact expressions that she was talking about to give the green-haired girl a physical demonstration.

"…But it the end, wouldn't it be simpler to just say hello itself?" Hikage pointed out, not really understanding what her co-worker was getting at.

To that, the brunette that was Reso put her rag down onto the table and put a hand to her chin. "Hmm…" She let out. "How to explain this..." A door opened from the kitchen and a familiar face was revealed that caused her to light up a bit. "Ah Kurusu-san, perfect timing!"

"Huh?" Akira asked, looking around. "What's happening?"

"Hikage-san is confused about greetings." Reso stated. "She says that there's no point in smiling whenever saying hello and such."

Well, it was more like she was wondering why people would smile during such a moment. But it was kind of similar so Hikage didn't bother correcting her. Instead, she decided to listen to Akira. It was good to have more than one source of answers just in case.

Akira however darted his eyes around slowly, as if he were taking in everyone that was waiting for him to answer. "…And?" He asked after a period of silence.

Hearing Akira's question, Reso leaned back incredulously. "And? That's all you have to say?" She questioned.

A shrug of the shoulders was all the boy gave. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and styles, you know. If Hikage prefers a straightforward curt greeting, that's fine. If you and Eito-san want to smile when saying hello, then go ahead." He then pointed with his thumb. "Manager-san wants to let you girls know that you should stop slacking off and finish cleaning as well."

Hikage was the first to get to work immediately just before Akira walked away. Not because she was afraid of the man. It was more of an order or request she was told to fulfill which was a part of her job. After finishing the table she had been working on, she move onto the next one and saw her co-workers cleaning hard as well.

"…Sorry about that." Hikage spoke up, grabbing the attention of the two girls. "Asking that question got us all in trouble. It's just that I was curious."

"Ah, that's okay, Hikage-san!" Eito waved her hands around, knocking the bottle of cleaning down off the table. She then hastily picked it back up. "You were probably just curious about it, that's all!"

"Although now that I think about it…" Reso, put a hand to her chin. "I've never seen you smile before, Hikage-san. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen you without a straight face. Is that why you asked what the point of smiling was?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Hikage nodded her head.

Well, she has sort of smiled before. But the amount of times she had was in single digits. Plus, she could probably count the amount of times on a single hand.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but she wouldn't be surprised if that was a fact.

She was – after all – a cicada husk. This time, certainly an exaggeration. But it was the best way to describe herself. Hikage rarely showed or displayed emotions to anyone, at least to a large degree. People interacted with her and she almost knew what they were thinking whenever confronting her. Apathy and languorous were perhaps words to use instead of the cicada husk metaphor.

At least… at first she was all that. Well, she still was technically. But right now, she was very curious about them. Before, they were a complete pain in the ass as those feelings got in the way of her life. But then she began to take a personal interest in them. Mainly after meeting Katsuragi, that loud-mouthed ninja who wouldn't stop talking.

Hikage missed the blonde… although it was loud enough as it was with the squad she was a part of already.

Long story short, she is curious about various emotions and why people show them during certain situations.

"So then why don't you try smiling right now?" Eito asked, putting a hand to her chin. "It should be simple enough."

Considering it for a second, Hikage smiled.

…Or at least it was what she attempted.

Judging by the physical reaction of the other two girls leaning back, her attempt was a complete failure. She would have stopped, but then a new voice quickly changed her mind just in case their opinion was different.

"Manager-san is giving you girls a second warn-." Akira cut himself off when he walked in on Hikage's face morphed into what she assumed to be a happy look on her face. "…Is Hikage trying to force a smile or are her teeth glued together?"

Well that guaranteed that her efforts were a failure.

Dropping whatever face she had on originally, her expression became bland once again. "Eito-san wanted me to try and smile… So I did." Hikage explained herself to the boy.

Staring at the green-haired female, Akira turned his head over to the other workers. "You realize you shouldn't force other to do things they are uncomfortable with, right?" He asked while folding his arms to the co-workers.

"It wasn't out fault, we swear!" Reso waved her hands in defence.

"Yet Hikage-san's words speak otherwise." The boy pointed out before going towards the back for a second time. "The time to open is closing in, so get everything ready in a few minutes!"

As soon as Akira passed through the doors though, Hikage spoke up. "Again, sorry about that." She began moving chairs around.

"Once more, it's okay." Reso shifted the furniture around as well.

"Hmm…" Eito put a hand to her chin after pushing a chair in. "Maybe we shouldn't work on Hikage-san smiling right now. Instead, perhaps another expression should be better. Mainly lighter looks since you look apathetic most of the time… Err, no offense, Hikage-san."

"Not a problem." The green-haired girl shrugged her shoulders, their comment hitting the nail right on the head when it came to describe her. Eito didn't mean it with malicious intent so it didn't bother her in the slightest. It then clicked in her head. "But what do you mean by lighter looks?"

"You'll know when you feel it… and we will know when we see it." Eito snapped her fingers and pointed towards her. What Hikage assumed to be a cool pose in the worker's opinion, Eito stayed in position for a couple of seconds before getting back to work. "But first, we need to put everything in place."

She will know when she feels it? Is that how it would work out? Hikage had to say, that kind of declaration intrigued her. Considering how she was, it would be very weird (but a good kind of weird) to have a random idea about a feeling inside of her.

Yet the question remained, how were they going to do that?

Hearing the door open at the back just as she pushed the last chair back into place, Hikage looked up to see Akira strolling up right to the front of the workplace. "Alright, it's almost time! Places everyone!" He held his arm and finger up while rolling his wrist repeatedly in circles. "Reso-san, you are up front with me! Eito-san and Hikage-san, the both of you will be the ones to bring out the food for tonight!"

As everyone began to move into their positions, Hikage was stopped when an arm blocked her path. Halting herself just in time before running into the limb, she slowly looked over towards the one who prevented her from traveling any further.

"…Can I help you, Kurusu-san?" She asked.

Akira turned his head to the side so that both of his grey eyes met her yellow ones. "Are those two bothering you, Hikage-san?" He asked. "Perhaps you are having a problem yourself?"

"No," Hikage answered. "Everything is fine."

He wasn't convinced.

She could easily tell. The twitch of the eyes. The small cure downwards of his lips. Yet he still didn't verbally respond. After a few more seconds, he lifted his arm to allow her to pass through to the back where the kitchen was with no problem.

Yet as Akira left, Hikage had a feeling that she should have told him.

Huh… feeling… Most likely regret if she correctly guessed.

…If that was the case, was this what Eito-san meant by knowing when it comes?

Hopefully so. That way the progress she was making would be faster than expected.

Walking to the back, she felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders. Looking over once again, this time she found herself being stopped by Eito as the other girl was the one who made physical contact. This confused Hikage as the direction she felt she was being pulled towards was away from the kitchen.

"Eito-san, Kurusu-san told us that we are the ones who are serving the food." Hikage pointed out yet did not resist being moved in a completely different direction. "Why are going to the break room instead? Do you need to take a break already?"

"There's no need worry right now, Hikage-san." Eito reassured the green-haired girl, gently pushing before closing the door behind them. "It still takes time for people to come in, order food, and for said food to be made. So we have some time before we come into play." Turning back around the face Hikage, the fellow worker gestured for them to take a quick seat.

"…Okay… Then why are we here?" Hikage asked while sitting down in a chair. But instead of sitting down, she watched Eito step over and began fiddling around with her hair. "…Uhm…" She turned her head.

"Ah, don't move!"

Hikage's neck froze in place, thus preventing her head from turning. Using her eyes, Hikage saw that Eito was fiddling around with her hair. This display caused the shinobi to frown a bit with confusion. "Eito-san, what are you doing to my hair?" She had to ask.

"I'm just giving you a little bit of a makeover, Hikage-san." Eito explained herself. She then grunted with frustration when Hikage tilted her head. "To achieve your goal, I think that we need to have you feel a little bit more feminine… maybe even cute. How else can we do that but with some small changes to you? Like your looks!"

Feel feminine or cute? Was that really the answer to it?

If so, then the goal to be achieved was going to be a lot harder than Hikage anticipated.

Despite this, Hikage didn't move which allowed Eito to continue fiddling around with her hair. "There we go!" Eito cheered for herself, taking a step back to admire her work. Taking out her phone, she tapped an icon before swiping a finger and handing it over to Hikage. "Take a look and see how cute you look, Hikage-san!"

Curious about what the fuss was about, Hikage took the phone out of her coworker's hand and looked. Apparently, Eito had taken a picture of her. Taking a couple of seconds, the green-haired girl realized that her hair had been styled to have two small ponytails on opposite sides of her head.

…That was it? Just a hairstyle? That was supposed to help her feel feminine and cuter? Something so simple?

Hikage didn't believe it for a second.

But, what did she know about these things? For all she knew, it could be worth it.

"Looks don't make up all of it though, Hikage-san." Eito took her phone back and pocketed the device. She then began to hold up fingers to list things off. "There is also a matter of your speech. Try to be delicate and polite."

"Delicate and polite?"

Hikage's question was answered quickly. "I mean talking in a cute way." Eito corrected herself.

"Cute way?"

"Cute way. Wike diff."

…Instead of cute, that just seemed dumb to Hikage. It was as if Eito was trying to talk to or like a baby.

Seeing the look on Hikage's face, Eito coughed into her hand. "Well, that's just one example. Another way could be to try and impersonate someone who you believe to be feminine or cute?" Eito suggested.

Impersonating, huh? From her options…

First, there was Katsuragi. She didn't seem cute or feminine in the first place at all. The same could be said about Homura. She didn't consider Mirai to be cute; if anything that girl was more like a brat. Yomi perhaps? She wasn't feminine, but she was described as cute by former fellow students before going rogue. Haruka as well? Without a doubt Hikage would say that the fellow shinobi that was her age was feminine… Or was the term mature that she was thinking of?

"Hmm, I think I can try to do something like that." Hikage nodded her head, thinking that this suggestion could possibly work out.

To that, Eito nodded her head with a smile. "Perfect!" She exclaimed.

A knock on the door to the break room soon entered their ears. "Eito-san! Hikage-san! You should stop hiding in there and go out! There are already a few orders ready to be served!" A male voice announced.

"Coming Kurusu-san!" Eito called out before quickly skipping over to the door. "Come on, Hikage-san!" Opening the door, she stepped past the black-haired boy who had moved out of the way and proceeded towards the kitchen.

As Hikage had gotten out of her chair, she noticed that Akira was staring at her. But not in an admirable way or how he did before a few minutes earlier. "Hikage-san, are you sure that everything is okay?" He asked suspiciously. "It's… interesting to see that you changed your hairstyle in the middle of work."

"Yes, everything is fine." She nodded her head. Hikage felt like this advice that Eito had given her may work out, so she didn't feel any need to talk to Akira about her predicament. In fact, it may be good to ask his opinion about her look. She wanted to appear cute and feminine, so it was now probably time to try it out.

She decided to start with Haruka.

Lifting both arms up, her left one went horizontal and rested near her stomach to support her right elbow. The right arm meanwhile pointed up. With that exact right-sided limb, she bent her wrist in order to rest her chin into the palm of her hand.

"What do you think, Kurusu-san?" Hikage made her voice sound a little lighter, trying to imitate Haruka's speech and tone of voice. "Does my hair… seem cute to you?" She then attempted a giggle at the end, just like how she imagined that blonde shinobi would do so.

Akira's eyes slightly narrowed a bit, his head turning so that she could only see a majority of one side of his face. "…Yeah, it looks very nice on you." He eventually nodded his head, eyes lightening up a bit. "Now come on, Eito-san can't do all the work by herself." Turning around, he then walked back to the front.

…Okay, that's wasn't a response Hikage expected.

Usually, boys would be much more flustered. Then again, this was Haruka she was trying to imitate. Haruka however had the experience of being that type of character with a high level of charisma to aid her. Hikage on the other hand didn't have any knowledge or emotions to do so. Would it ever be possible for her to achieve her goal?

She now began to feel something now…

Contempt.

**SmokeBombBreak**

This was why she thought emotions were a pain in the ass in the first place.

That bad feeling she felt earlier. It stayed with her as time passed.

Even worse, that emotion grew.

It grew every passing second. The feeling welled up when she would hear her name being called. Whenever she was told what to do. Grabbing plates, bowls, or cups. Walking. Announcing orders and distributing it properly. Waiting. It bubbled and brewed inside of her body.

As she carried another order out towards a table, she watched Reso and Eito both interacting with customers with smiles of their own. In turn, the customers smiled back to them warmly or politely. With Akira, he wore a small smile whenever greeting new people while pouring water or tea for those waiting, but they returned the look all the same.

Now there was another emotion she was feeling.

Jealousy.

Now she was feeling down.

No… She was going down.

Feeling the ankle of her foot bash into the other, Hikage's body began to fall forward. Eyes widening as the front half of her body fell, she quickly stretched her hands out while spinning her body around. Ignoring a stab of pain in her wrist when she used an open hand to keep herself up off the floor, the other hands shot out quickly in order to balance the tray that was still plated with food.

Panting due to the sudden movement she had to go through, she felt herself sweat a bit as the pain in her wrist continued to pulse. Her arms shook, but for some reason her body refused to move or get up at all.

"As I though, you must have caught something."

Feeling the weight of the tray ease off her body, Hikage was also pulled up onto her feet. Looking, she saw that Akira was the one who had approached her while holding her tray in his other hand. His eyes looked straight at her, taking on a stoic gaze to maintain professionalism due to their current environment and company around them.

"Since you aren't feeling well, why don't you take an early break to recover?" Akira suggested curtly, releasing his grip from Hikage and turning around. "Apologies for the interference with your meals. Please, continue." He apologized and urged the crowd while looking around. "Now… I believe it was you who ordered the pasta, yes?"

While Akira asked his question and served the customers, Hikage stared at Akira for a couple of seconds before reluctantly walking towards the break room at the back of the establishment. She saw that both Reso and Eito were concerned with her being.

But before any of them could move towards her, Akira had interfered. "Both of you, continue with what you were tasked to do while I go to the back and take care of some things. I'll be back in a few minutes." He told them as Hikage went through the door to the kitchen.

Pulling the door open to the break room and sit down, Hikage brought up her hand and began rolling her wrist around to note the pain.

Once again this was why she used to think that emotions were a pain in the ass. They were distracting and could easily affect a person's judgement and senses.

"As I thought, you sprained your wrist."

Hikage didn't both looking over as she knew that Akira behind her. Hearing the door close and his footsteps, she expected for him to sit in front of her. She was correct. What she did not expect was a first-aid kit to be set down on the table between the two of them as well as a tray of ice.

"Give me your wrist." Akira beckoned while pulling out some bandages.

She eyed the boy when he gave her a request. "Do you even know what you're doing?" Hikage already knew some first aid herself. Getting help from the boy wasn't exactly necessary since she could just do it on her own.

"During my time in Tokyo last year, I got to know a doctor and she showed me how to give first aid along with a few other things." Akira stated, stretching out the cloth a couple of times. "Now give me your wrist. I don't want to swell more than it already it."

Sizing the boy up for a few seconds, Hikage eventually (and reluctantly) extended her arm for Akira to tend to. With a nod, the boy got to work.

Within a small amount of time, Akira had finished wrapping the green-haired girl's wrist and had just placed ice wrapped a clean towel on the wound. Hikage thought that it didn't matter if the ice was applied. Akira pointed out that a towel was better when she asked, saying some stuff along the line of being bad for the cells on your skin or something like that if too much cold was applied.

"With that done, you should take the rest of your shift off. But there is something I need to discuss before you leave." Akira began as he closed the first-aid kit and leaned back into his chair. "I've said it twice. Now this third verse is the same as the second and first… Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm not buying it." Akira followed sharply with narrowed eyes. He lifted three fingers while leaning forward. "I've already asked you twice before. As they say, third time is the charm. So this is the third time and I'm not going to let you get away with it." Sighing while shaking his head, he brought his hands down and drummed his fingers on the table. "Hikage-san, it's clearly bothering you as it has affect your performance earlier. I can tell that Eito-san and Reso-san both have tried to help when you asked. What makes me curious is why you didn't ask me at all."

That… was an incredibly valid point. Maybe it was because this was just something she thought should be between females. After all, these types of conversations was always with that gender. Katsuragi as well as the entire shinobi squad she was a part of.

Still… she wasn't sure if she did want to fully tell Akira.

A quick question could maybe help her determine this.

"Kurusu-san… am I weird?"

"…Sorry, what?"

Hikage turned her head away a bit. "You must think I'm weird." She repeated herself.

Akira stared at the shinobi. He then blinked a couple of times. "Yeah, I do." He confirmed with a nod of his head.

"…I see…" Hikage responded, looking down towards the table. She honestly should have expected an answer like that.

"Lots of people are weird." But just from the very top of her eyes despite where her gaze was aimed, she saw him shrug his shoulders. Bring her gaze back to look at his grey eyes, she saw that he was serious. Despite that face though, both his face and words were normal and had an even tone. "It's just our choice whether or not to embrace it." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hikage's eyes widened at the response Akira went with. Not only that, it looked like he was telling the truth. He was completely serious with his answer. After a few seconds, Hikage made her decision.

"It's just that… always keeping this straight face. Never smiling. Never looking sad. Just living my life apathetically, as if I didn't care about anything… Never really feeling anything, except a fair number of bad things. It's been like that for me since childhood. But a while back, I began to feel… Experience an emotion of excitement. It was… nice. That's why I was curious about smiling earlier. I was wondering how I would feel or what emotions I would experience."

Hikage found herself surprised at the speech she had blurted out to the boy. Even mentioning how her problem was a part of her childhood.

The black-haired boy however remained silent. She didn't know how long exactly, but she had the feeling it was for about a minute. Through that time though, he had leaned back again and put on a thoughtful pose while narrowing his eyes again. This time however she could see the gears in his head turning.

"And what does this have to do with your hairstyle and seeming cute?"

Hearing his question, Hikage tapped her chin a couple of times before responding. "Eito-san basically tried to make me more cute or feminine in order to help me lighten me up and maybe feel something good enough to make my smile better."

Akira had a weird look. "…Is that how it works?"

"Honestly, I have no idea anymore." Hikage answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

Once again, grey eyes stared at yellow ones for a few seconds. "Hmm…" Akira hummed while getting onto his feet. "Try to make you cute or feminine to make you feel something good is it…"

"In a sense, yes." Hikage nodded her head. Watching the boy, his body moved around the table.

What was a bit unexpected was that he actually came close to her. He lifted his hand and gently hovered his right hand over her left cheek. The fingers were close enough to not make contact, yet it felt as though he were gently caressing Hikage. She soon felt that hand reach around and gently pull off both hair ties which made her ponytails disappear into her normal look. Still staring, she watched him lower his face so that they were eye level just before he moved a bit forward. Soon his fingers were just about to touch her chin as they were nearly cheek to cheek as well.

"But aren't you cute enough the way you are right now… Hikage-chan?"

He then turned around to exit the break room. "If you do want to continue working, you'll be up front with me then and Reso-san will replace your other position." Akira closed the door behind him and left Hikage all alone.

Hikage however just continued staring forward with her eyes still wide. She blinked as those words played again in her head. When she began to think about how he delivered that line, she noticed that she had been holding her breath.

Soon she began to feel something inside of her… An emotion…

An emotion she hadn't felt in a while… Since living with Hinata…

Needing to see, Hikage grabbed her phone and unlocked up. Bringing up the camera function, she swiped her finger to use the camera on the screen side. Within a second, Hikage saw it.

A red blush had grown on her cheeks. It was a sight that she would never have expected to see. Surprise filled her once again when the blush grew even bigger and she caressed the side of her face that Akira had spoken into.

Taking in deep breaths, Hikage soon remembered that she still had the ice. Lifting the towel that had the cold element wrapped inside, she applied it to her cheeks believing that this would help the heat in her face. Physically, she felt herself cool off and she took deep breath to calm down. Taking another look, she seemed fine.

Getting up off her chair, she turned around to get back to work. She was a shinobi so injuries like these were just inconveniences that one had to power on through. Not only that, but she needed every bit of yen she could get to help her fellow shinobi survive.

Walking back out to the front area, she saw Akira and Reso both turn around and watch her approach. Reso soon scampered towards the kitchen, but not before giving Hikage a smile.

"Strong enough to get through today's shift?" Akira asked with a knowing smile.

"Of course." Hikage nodded her head.

But when she looked at his smile for a second too long, she began have that previous feeling grow inside of her again… as well as grow a small blush on her cheeks. She then tried to hide her face from the boy.

Behind Akira's back though, a customer with sharp eyes peeked above their menu that hid their face and saw this interaction before swiftly exiting the building.

**Some of you thought it was going to be Mirai, BUT IT WAS REALLY ONE OF THE BEST GIRLS, HIKAGE!**

**On a serious note though, this was a Hikage chapter. The reason why it was this instead of Mirai is… well… I was too busy to go through any game footage or the first anime episode to watch the order the Hanzo girls were introduced. But if memory served me correctly the order was essentially Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yaguya, then Hibari.**

**Who are the 'opposites' of each of them? Homura, Yomi, Hikage, Mirai, then Haruka.**

**I'm hoping I got the order right. If not, oh well.**

**So yeah. Hikage was the one up next. Now its Mirai.**

**Also, a fact I'm not sure is considered fun or not. Originally, I was thinking of a small rivalry between Akira and Hikage due to cats and snakes supposedly being natural enemies. But I like Hikage's character too much, so I went with this route (whether it is a good idea or not I unfortunately have no idea).**

**No flames please.**


	4. Guns and Cats

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Pacing around the door angrily, so eventually settled for tapping her foot impatiently while drumming fingers along an umbrella's handle.

Mirai took out of phone to check the time and she was correct in thinking that she was on time. It's just that her supposed employer was late. Well, he could have easily forgotten as well. That was simply no good either way.

"Suppose I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's late." Mirai muttered to herself as she stuffed away her phone.

Eyeing the house she was standing in front of, she made sure to prevent herself from screaming at how huge it was. When Yomi told her about where this Akira character lived, she pretty much said he lived in a big house. To Mirai though, big was an understatement. This building could possibly be considered housing a small business for all she knew!

This was all for one person? The guy must be rich if that were the case. Yomi didn't really like wealthy people though. Yet she managed to get along with this guy well? Either he bribed her, or he was different as Yomi claimed.

The first part was highly unlikely. Yomi wasn't that kind of person.

Hearing panting, Mirai looked over to see a boy jogging towards the stairs of the house. Before he could even make it up one of the steps though, he bent over and slapped his hands onto his knees to prevent himself from falling over. With shorts and a t-shirt, Mirai saw just how soaked the clothing was and wrinkled her nose with a grimace.

"Sorry… sorry I'm late…" The boy panted. Eyeing upwards, he lifted a hand for a second as if he were about to wave. A couple of loud breaths later, he put that surface back onto his knee. She heard him swallow loudly. "What… I was doing… took longer… than expected…"

Mirai looked rather perplexed at the sight of the sweat-drenched male who look as if he were going to pass out at any second. "Did you run a marathon or something?" She questioned, completely baffled.

"…Yeah… sure… something like that, I guess? Along with a lot more." His answer made the girl raise an eyebrow. Bringing a hand out once more, this time he simply rolled his wrist repeatedly in her direction. "A personal trainer I hired recently works me to the bone every time I see her. No need to worry though… I'm getting used to it."

"Uh, okay…" Mirai had no idea how she should react. The scene was just so bizarre she couldn't really think straight. Yeah, she's seen this sight at Hebijo before. But it was just so surreal to see it from a normal citizen while being a renegade.

As he forced his way up the stairs, he then got another look at her. At that moment, he looked up and down to take in the sight. "Huh..." He said when settling to make eye contact which caused him to stare at the eyepatch that was on her face. "So, you must be this Mirai-san that Yomi-san had told be about." He then nodded his head with a tired breath. "Akira… Akira Kurusu." He waved, finally introducing himself. "I would shake, but…"

At first, his eyes unnerved her slightly. For all she knew, he was judging her just with his stare alone. Their eyes then drifted towards his hand and she scrunched her face up in a bit of disgust. "…I get it." Mirai deadpanned.

Yup, different. Without a doubt. Just as Yomi claimed.

A little too different maybe.

"I assume that you are more than aware of the reason that you are here, correct?"

Mirai nodded to Akira's question.

It was a request that sounded simple but was apparently a heft task. Help clean a bunch of model guns. While it did sound simple at first, there was the main fact that Akira apparently owned a bunch of them. This didn't even count the model melee weapons he apparently had as well that she luckily didn't have to take care of.

Swallowing, Akira reached into his pocket. "Let me just get the door for you." He said, fishing out the keys and inserting it into the lock. Turning his hand, a click was heard. Pushing open the door, Akira stood up a bit straighter and extended his hand to allow Mirai to enter first.

Not used to such a behavior, it took the smaller girl a second to register what she was supposed to do. "Um, thank you." She nodded her head before stepping inside and taking in the interior.

A flight of stairs leading to the upper floor was the first thing that her eyes laid upon. Gleams of light reflected off both the polished banister as well as floor as they had been cleaned recently. Noticing a space to her right, she eyed over to see another spacious area that looked cozy to say the least.

"…Wow…" Mirai had to breath at the display before her very eyes. Yomi was right. Just a couple of steps through the entrance and already there was a lot to take in.

"Yeah, wow." Akira stepped heavily through the door and closed it behind them. She stepped to the side while taking her shoes off just as he did the same thing. "I have to say that Yomi-san contributed to this clean scene quite a bit." He then waved his hand. "Come now, let's show you where you're going to help out."

She raised an eyebrow as Akira was leading her down the hall. "Shouldn't you change first?"

"Don't worry, I will." He answered, already gaining back some of his stamina. "My room is on the way towards the basement. I'll have you wait outside of it for a couple of minutes for me to finish."

Blinking, she realized that Akira was still walking away. Quickly, she trailed right behind the boy and followed him down a flight of stairs. Making a left after the first flight, she saw a dining table and Akira took a turn into the room where the furniture was. Confused, she still followed as she thought that this was where he had the guns.

Noticing that she had walked through a kitchen, she saw the change in environment after going past a pair of doors. Mirai was too late in stopping herself though when she bumped into something. "What the?"

Looking forward, she saw that Akira had turned around and was reaching over towards a doorknob. Since she had run into him, he blinked. "Mirai-san, don't you remember me saying that I'll be changing first?" Something else must have went through his head as he leaned back with a cautious look. "You didn't want to sneak a peek at me, did you?"

Mirai blushed at the embarrassing moment that she had not been aware of her surrounding and run into him. Her face turned even redder at the fact that Akira was asking if she was going to peep on him. "N-no. No!" She had to repeat herself to confirm this. "I… I just blanked out, that's all!" She did her best to save face.

"…Hmm." Akira hummed before gesturing with his head. "Then may I…" His eyes looked over towards the doors.

She noticed this movement with his chin and stepped back. Akira nodded his head in thanks without a single work before closing the door.

Looking around, Mirai decided to step out of the… combination of a dining room and kitchen. Going out into the hall, she backed up herself up against a wall away from Akira's room. After that, the small girl hooked her umbrella over a chair. Opening her mouth, she began to bite down on a balled-up fist and released a muffled scream of humiliation.

Not even 5 minutes in this household and she already did something so stupid! Mirai resisted the urge to just run up the stairs and out of the house. As much as she wanted to just hide, she couldn't. While no one but Yomi knew of this specific location and job, everyone in the squad knew that she was working today and she didn't want them to worry.

Sucking in air, Mirai unhinged her jaw and released her hand. Giving it a good look, she soon gave it a disgusted look as she saw bite marks and saliva on her skin. Maybe doing that wasn't a very good reaction and she should have just tried to keep it cool instead.

Wiping the hand on the back part of her clothing so Akira wouldn't see any wet marks on her, she sighed and looked to the ground.

Her mood lightened up though when she saw a cat. Yomi did mention that there was a cat inside of the house.

The cat's coat was not entirely black. The muzzle, areas around the paws and even the tip of the tail were white. Bright blue eyes shined with curiosity and innocence and it saw that she was staring at the feline. Noting the yellow collar around the neck, the overall colors never clashed against one another. In fact, it looked pretty good.

A grin began to break out on her face as the cat stopped moving. It then sat down on the floor and yawned before scratching its ear.

Lost in her own world, Mirai bent down to get a closer look. Not even a second passed before she gently fell forward on her knees and elbows. Hands curled up in fists and resting her chin on top of them, she wiggled her butt in the air while wearing a smug smile, like a cat about to pounce.

"Scooch." Mirai shimmied forward a bit. "Scooch scooch. Scooch scooch. Scooch" She constantly whispered this one single word to herself, inching closer to the cat with every passing second as it just stared at her.

Now close to its face while remaining at eye level with it, Mirai found herself pleasantly surprised that it didn't bother walking away yet. In fact, it kept its curiosity up while remaining still. She giggled at this.

"…Boop." She poked its nose with her own, causing the cat to shake its head and sneeze. Cooing with another giggle, she softly fell to her side. She knew the floor was clean so there was nothing to worry about. Reaching over, she was careful to make sure that she didn't seem like a threat so the cat wouldn't run away from her.

Gently grabbing the feline, the animal appeared to be okay with being handled gently. Tenderly, Mirai brushed her cheek along its fur and was happy to find out that it nice and smooth. Bringing her fingers to one of its paws, it only mewed when she began to rub it.

"…Squishy." She cutely announced her action while feeling the bottom of its paw. "…Squishy squishy squishy." Mirai enjoyed the feeling and that the animal had not bothered struggling out of her grasp yet while meowing.

She then decided to risk one final thing.

Holding the cat in her arms while getting up to her feet, she shuffled over towards one of the chairs next to the table. While that happened, she made sure to keep an eye on the animal just in case it wanted to get out of her grasp. Sitting down, she also shifted the cat around so its but would be seated on the chair as well. Holding both of its upper legs out she began to rhythmically shake them up and down while clapping them together every few bounces.

"Here's a kitty cat cat. Here's his kitty fat fat. What sound does it make? Pat pat pat." Mirai chanted, moving the legs and clapping the paws appropriately with the cat purring. Shaking her body to the rhythm of her words, the grin that she wore just kept growing bigger and bigger.

Looking up, her grin immediately fell.

Akira was standing in the middle of the room staring at her. With eyes wide, the corners of his mouth were curled down. But rather than considering it to be a frown, trembling coming from the boy showed that it was as if he was trying to contain his laughter.

Shocked at the fact that he had been watching her without a sound, she was frozen. Feeling Morgana slip out of his grasp, she shakily pointed at the boy. "H-h-how long…" She stuttered with cheeks blushing red once more. "How long have you been watching!?" She shouted with anger and horror.

Akira swallowed as if that action alone would stop himself from chortling. "Right when you touched your nose with Morgana's." He answered after regaining his composure.

"Then why didn't you say anything?!"

He shrugged. "You looked like you were enjoying yourself." Akira answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

Mirai growled a bit as she continued to feel humiliated. With that display alone, who knew what thoughts were running through Akira's mind.

Unclenching her fists, she took in a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "…Let's just start what you wanted me to do." A sigh escaped her lips, looking down on the floor.

No response.

After a couple of seconds, she looked back up and was taken aback at look she was being sent this time. With hands in his pockets, slightly narrow eyes stared at her face – namely her eyepatch – once again with lips twisted downwards this time in a small frown.

"…Alright then." He stated, sounding a bit unpleased. "If you may follow me…" He motioned with his arm and hand before walking towards the hall and a staircase next to the dining room. Akira was already heading down a flight of stairs by the time Mirai had gotten onto her feet.

Smacking her cheeks a couple of times to snap out of her funk, Mirai's eyes narrowed as she calmed herself down once again. Taking a deep breath, she easily walked over and went down the stairs.

Just like with Morgana, her mood immediately changed upon the sight of the plethora of guns in the basement. Boards had been set up and metal were popping out. Carefully positioned all around were firearms grouped together with their own kind.

Mirai couldn't help but have her jaw drop. She knew that Yomi had said that Akira had a large collection. That was an understatement. Not only that, but that they also looked extremely real as well! This… this had to be some set created for an action movie! Only places like this were seen in fiction!

"Whoa…" She breathed, constantly pivoting on her feet to take in the sights. Constantly spinning around at fast speeds trying to take everything in, her world began to blur and the girl started staggering around. Dizzy, she almost fell over when a pair of hands caught her.

Groaning, she shook her head after a few seconds. Opening her eyes, she saw a concerned Akira looked down towards her. "Are you okay?" He asked with a bit of worry.

"Y-yes, yes! Absolutely! Totally fine!" Mirai sprung back up to her feet and spread her arms out. "But enough of that. How did you get so many guns to look like this!? They look like the genuine thing!" She waved the limbs back and forth quickly.

Much to her surprise (and a bit of pleasure), Akira slightly turned his head away while scratching his cheek sheepishly. "Well…" He tapped his chin in thought soon after. "Long story short, I volunteered part-time for a guy who I was buying these from. He thought that I was doing such a good job that he started selling me them." An embarrassed chuckle escaped his lips. "Guess I went a bit overboard with how many I bought."

She immediately noticed the sheepish tone he had taken up and couldn't help but add to the mood. "Did you also get all of these weapons replicas from this guy as well?" Mirai asked, smugly enjoying her moment of watching Akira slightly squirm a bit more with a nod.

"Anyways," Akira coughed into his hands to probably stop her from talking any more about the subject. "I already have the proper cleaning material laid out on the table here." He gestured with his hand to the furniture that was set up perpendicular against a wall. "I will be starting with the pistols. You may begin with any other firearm of your choosing."

As he swiftly moved over to his specific gun of choice, Mirai decided to start with what she was familiar with. The only problem was there were two that fulfilled her choice: rifles and submachine guns.

Maybe submachine guns first. While she technically used rifles, her Alteisen umbrella was the only one since all other weapons she specialized in were automatic.

Pick up a tommy gun off the wall, she walked over towards the table Akira was working at and set the firearm down. Leaning her umbrella against the table, she sat down in a second chair that was across Akira and she began cleaning the gun.

Watching the boy working with a bottle, brush and cloth, she had to say that she admired the care the boy took with cleaning. While fast, his decisive hand movements never lingered too short nor long over each area.

Since she had taken time to think about which firearm to start with, she was slightly behind Akira despite her experience with gun maintenance. Mirai was almost done with the tommy gun as Akira had gotten off his seat and moved over towards the area decorated with handguns.

Watching Akira hang the freshly cleaned gun up, she noticed something. "Did you redecorate recently?" She asked, noticing that there were some holes that were covered up.

"Hm?" He looked back and saw what Mirai was talking about. "Yup. There was one previously up there. But when looking at it, I noticed a fault and had it sent back towards the shop I had bought it from hoping that the owner could fix it for me. If not, he'd send me a new one. I didn't like the look of the empty spot though, so I rearranged the look." Grabbing another gun, he set himself back down to the table and resumed cleaning.

Seeing this, Mirai did the same.

Time and silence passed between the two of them as they were simply focused on their task. The answer she received did not satisfy her though and constantly ran through her head the entire period.

Did he really have to rearrange the entire board though? If anything, that choice he made would end up making the display look a bit worse since he would have to make and fill more holes when he put everything back into its proper place.

But she decided to not say anything. It was Akira's choice… albeit a weird one.

Finally, she had finished the submachine guns as Akira was moving onto the shotguns. Putting the final automatic weapon back into place, she settled for cleaning the rifles next. Looking over to see the selection, there was one specific type of gun and she gaped.

"A Winchester model 1873 lever-action rifle?!" Swiftly jogging over, Mirai slipped it off the hooks that held up the firearm to admire the body.

Akira looked up from his work and saw how Mirai was treating the gun. "…Yes, that is very much correct." He leaned back into his chair while folding his arms.

"Yup!" Mirai confirmed with an excited nod. "The gun that won the wild west! Originally chambered for the .44-40 cartridge, which was the first centrefire cartridge and that's why it became immensely popular! The Model 1873 was even brought back during 2013, joining the 1892 and 1894 as the third classic Winchester rifle model to be reintroduced! It's so cool!"

With a grin on her face during that entire outburst, realization hit her like a truck and she dropped her face immediately when she saw Akira staring at her blankly.

Just staring… as if he weren't sure how to react…

"I… I…"

If he didn't think she was weird at first, that rant put the final nail in the coffin. She honestly thought she was over it considering how long she had lasted. She thought that it wouldn't affect her as much since she had made friends as she was…

But these moments in the house made her remember that her friends were shinobi…

Regular citizens were different.

"I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me!"

"Wha- Mirai-san, wait!"

Grabbing her umbrella, she dashed up the stairs to the first floor with teeth grinding together. Not hearing the footsteps close behind her, she ran down the hall and turned immediately to climb the next flight to the second (ground) floor. Already at the front door within seconds, Mirai swiftly put her shoes on.

Reaching over to rip the knob, she heard something slam itself onto the door and prevent her from pulling it open.

Whipping her head around, her shame turned into shocked bewilderment as she saw that Akira was gasping for air. Her gaze was also pointed down as the boy appeared to have dove in a desperate attempt to stop her as his body rested against the door.

"…Mirai-san…" He panted, eyes closed while pointing towards her. "…Please…" He swallowed to probably satisfy his partially parched throat. "Please wait a moment while I catch my breath…" Dropping the finger pointing, he then tiredly waved his hand back towards the hall that led to the downstairs path. "Just wait in the dining room… I'll be with you in a couple of minutes… I'm just going to lay here all the meanwhile…"

"…" Mirai was only able to hear about half of those words due staring at Akira's limp form in exasperation.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Quietly, Mirai stared at a glass of water that had been placed in front of her.

Seeing her reflection in the liquid, she saw that her face was had a mixture of emotions. There was shame, fear, embarrassment, many negative feelings blended and she couldn't take her eye off of the image.

Hearing a small hiss and relieved groan, she broke out of her small private moment to see Akira applying a small handful of ice in a cloth against his head. When he had dove forward to stop her from running away, he had bumped the possibly swollen area on the door.

As soon as they made eye contact with one another she immediately looked back down to her beverage.

Hearing a freezer door close, she listened to his footsteps get closer. After that came the sound of a chair being pulled out. Gripping her knees, the only thing that was preventing her from running away again was the cat she now knew as Morgana using her legs as a mattress.

"…Do you want something else to drink?"

Mirai flinched at Akira's question. She was a shinobi. But right now, she felt like she was in a situation before she became one. A lone girl against a figure of a higher status in the building she was currently in.

"N-no, I'm fine!" Mirai grabbed the cup and gulped its contents down so she wouldn't have to see her reflection. Gasping, she slammed it right down right after it was empty.

Hearing nothing from Akira, she looked up to see that the boy had his eyes narrowed in her direction. It made her uncomfortable. Sighing, Akira sat down. "Mirari-san…" He started, causing the girl to tense and just wait for whatever the boy had to ask. "You're being bullied, aren't you?"

"…Eh?"

Blinking, she looked up with confusion. Akira was frowning, although it looked a bit silly with one hand on top of his head to hold ice in place. "No, I already told you I'm fi-"

"I'm not buying it." Akira cut her off.

"And I'm not selling it." Mirai responded.

"So you don't deny it."

Mirai opened her mouth to retort, but this time didn't bother to respond as she looked away. "…I'm not being bullied anymore…"

"…I see…" Akira slowly nodded his head, as if he were thinking of what to say next. "I'm sorry then."

"Don't be." Mirai said back. "I don't want your pity."

"…Perhaps I should rephrase that." She looked back at Akira. "I'm sorry for startling and making you feel uncomfortable. It was insensitive of me." He apologized while bowing in his seat.

Surprised at what he was trying to apologize for, Mirai didn't know what to say. This was all coming from a stranger who had watched her freak out and injure himself trying to stop her. "…Perhaps I should be saying sorry as well…" She admitted. "I did just suddenly run away, leading you to stress your body and injure your body right after an intense workout."

"Ah, it's not problem." Akira waved off. "I'm gotten through worse. I do have to say, I'm impressed though." He changed topics. "Yomi-san was right, you do know a lot about guns."

"You're impressed just by that explanation alone?" Mirai raised an eyebrow before smirking. "The Winchester is nothing compared to the other things you got down in your basement."

"I believe you." Akira nodded his head before looking at her legs. "You're also a cat-lover huh?" He leaned in closer. "I find it absolutely hilarious whenever Morgana wakes me up using his paws. They feel good yet they're absolute foul play." He held his hand up and whispered as if he were telling her a secret in a public area.

Mirai giggled at this and stroked Morgana's body. "It's perhaps one of the most satisfying things to do when you own a cat."

"Oh, so you have one of your own?"

"No, but I have been to a couple of shelters to look at them."

As time passed, the two of them simply sat there and talked some more. Their conversation led to all sorts of different topics and back to older ones. Mirai only grew excited with every passing second as Akira addressed the subjects at hand and she would respond in turn with a question, answer, or explanation.

But she eventually realized what he had done. Stopping herself from speaking, her mouth hung open for a couple of seconds before she closed it. Looking back down, she saw Morgana looking up at her. Reaching towards the cat, she petted it once again with one hand.

But with her free hand, she bitterly reached up and caressed just under her eyepatch.

"…Did the people who bullied you do that?"

"…"

Rubbing the skin, Mirai didn't answer Akira's question. "Ah, sorry for asking something like that."

"No… it's all right…" She sighed, shifting around a bit when Morgana stood up and seemed to try to climb her body. Lifting him up, she put his upper body over her shoulder and supported his bottom half as if she were holding a baby. "In a way, they kind of did… My eye is fine. It's just… another weird thing that made me stand out…"

She heard Akira chuckle.

Snapping her head up, she growled but stopped when Akira put his hand up. "My apologies." He said sorry for who knows how many times today. "It's just that I had a similar conversation with a co-worker of mine. She asked me if she was weird due to… certain issues she has in her life. I'll tell you what I told her: Lots of people are weird. It's just our choice whether or not to embrace it."

"…Maybe…" Mirai agreed begrudgingly. "But that doesn't mean that the world is still good to them. It's filled with so many bad thing… It's why I wear the eyepatch… To only see half of the terrors society provides."

"…"

Akira didn't verbally respond at first. After a few seconds, he got up from his seat and walked towards the fridge and pulled out a carrot stick. Moving back to the table, he dangled the snack in front of Mirai. "The end the is pointing at you is good and the end pointing at me is bad." He stated. "Break off the bad end."

…Once again, Yomi's statement of Akira being different echoed in her head. Awkwardly and suspiciously, she grabbed most of the stick and broke it.

"It's still there." Akira noted. "Break off the bad end."

She did it once more. Akira repeated himself. That caused Mirai to have her eye twitch. "It doesn't matter what I do! The bad end will always be there!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up as Morgana slid off her and fell to the floor.

Akira nodded his head, pushing the two broken carrot ends towards her. "But in turn, the good will be there as well." Reaching towards her eyepatch, he flipped it up and had a small smile as two red eyes met two grey ones. "Kind of like how if you only see half of the bad, you also only see half of the good." The happy look grew a bit bitter. "It is unfortunate that the world sucks. That is a fact that will never go away..." He began to look a bit more positive in the end though. "But that is why we should try to focus on the good and work out way around the bad."

Holding his hand out, he gestured with his head. "Now come on, you got some guns to clean and pockets to empty; namely mine."

Mirai stared with surprise, shocked at the small little lecture he had given her.

Akira then scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "On second though, none of that made sense. Forget what I just said and lets just get back to work." He then made his way down towards the basement.

Blinking, a strange sound escaped Mirai's lips. A full-blown laugh soon emitted from the small girl, the sound joy bouncing around the walls of the dining room and kitchen.

Due to her happy mood as she followed him, Mirai didn't notice a figure with a hair band outside the house dash away from the windows.

**Hoo boy… and I thought Yomi was going to be the tougher one.**

**Okay a couple of reasons why this chapter took so long.**

**1 (Not even a good reason): When I put down rifles as the collection that Akira had back in chapter 2, I was assuming any kind were fine. I then got a look at P5R gameplay intro and saw that a repeater/lever-action rifle was specifically being used. That made me wonder if other rifles were used or just that specific type. After looking all over the internet, I couldn't find my answer so I just went with the specific type.**

**2) I had a hard time deciding whether or not Mirai should have an outburst and try to run or have Akira simply tackle his suspicions while they worked.**

**I will admit, I was not the biggest fan of Mirai at first (didn't really find her character that enjoyable and her gameplay sucks). But when actually figuring out how to make them bond, I saw that Akira and Mirai could actually get along pretty well due to common likes (guns, cats and other possible things).**

**Also that eyepatch thing… is that the actual reason? I swear I saw it when I was doing research on her. Or is the eyepatch just for aesthetic purposes? Meh, the reason thing is a bit more interesting despite how flawed it is. **

**Now that this is over and done with, onto Haruka!**

**No flames please.**


	5. Creating Chemistry

**This is a fanfic. BUY THE FUCKING MERCHANDISE!**

Yawning, Haruka shook her head to keep herself focused.

Watching the beakers and tubes, liquids and gases of various colors moved with incredible gusto. When the liquid finally settled, she took out a syringe and extracted the liquid. Turning over towards a rat that she had in a cage, she walked over.

Gently reaching into the metal confines, she picked up the rodent. Seeing the small animal squirm in her grip, she carefully pierced a part of its body and injected the strange concoction inside. After a few more seconds of the animal squirming, it went limp.

Haruka sighed at another failure. At this rate, she would run out of supplies for a new drug she was trying to create. She had pulled an all-nighter for nothing.

Damn, she was missing something. But what was it?

Actually, now that she thought about it, what time was it? Groggily, she took out her phone. Looking at the device to see the clock, she jumped in surprise. Not only had she pulled an all-nighter, her entire morning and nearly the afternoon was taken up as well?!

Why didn't anyone tell her?!

Looking around, she then noticed a couple of empty, dirty plates. Ah, right, she said that she didn't want to be disturbed…

Now was not the time for such thoughts!

Popping open a small bottle, she tapped out a couple of pills. Swallowing them, she felt her tired body regain some of its energy. But she couldn't afford to waste anymore seconds. Within one smooth motion, she had taken off her lab coat and was suddenly wearing her civilian attire.

She then ran out of the hideout with her phone displaying a single location.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Approaching the address, she looked up to see quite an impressive house.

The outside looked English to her… or maybe it was American she was thinking of. Which of the two had fancy carvings on their wall again? No matter, she should be able to see this sight a bit more if this Akira character needed more help in the future.

Either way, the outside was rather fabulous and even reminded her a bit of home. Well, her original home before abandoning that life for one of a shinobi. So that probably meant that this boy came from a wealthy family.

…This was certainly going to be an interesting experience.

Stretching, she knew she should not assume about his character, but it was best to think about what this Akira person would be like so she could act to his appeal. If he found her satisfying, he would request another session with her. More sessions meant more money… if she could stay awake during the entire ordeal.

Now, how should she think this through. Was this person just having trouble understanding the material? Maybe they had money for brains. If she could be honest, she was hoping it was the first one. The second, which she could easily find tolerable, would be difficult to teach him in the first place. Despite doing this mainly for money, she could not help but feel a sense of duty and pride when it would come to tutoring or looking after someone.

Perhaps she was spoiling Mirai a little bit too much… Or was it the little girl spoiling her?

"Haruka-san I presume?"

Turning around on the sidewalk, Haruka came face to face with who she assumed to be the one she would be teaching today.

A clump of wavy messy black hair and dark gray eyes were the first things that stood out about the boy. But other than that, he looked extremely ordinary. The set of black glasses, the school uniform… they just helped complete the look of an average high-school student. Nothing about the boy was jumping out at her.

At that moment, she saw his bag wiggle around a bit on its own. She was a bit surprised. That feeling only continued to grow as Akira reached over towards the zipper in strive and pulled it towards him. Not even a second passed before out popped the head of a cat meowing with relief while shaking its head.

She suddenly her chest puff out a bit and did her best to from expanding anymore. From this, she stifled a yawn. Looks to be that medicine she had taken wasn't as effective after constant uses. "Yes, that is correct." She said slowly, her focus now between the feline and the boy.

He must have been extremely aware (she was making it a bit obvious despite trying not to), because when he looked back and saw her line of sight, he smiled. "Yes, I carry my cat Morgana around with me wherever I go. Guess that cat is out of the bag."

The cat mewed, as if it were releasing a groan at the pun Akira had just made. That joke however broke Haruka out of her minor stupor. The corners of her lips quirked up into a small grin as she giggled at the unexpected humor. "My name is Haruka." She introduced herself again, this time in person and proper. "I take it that you are Akira Kurusu-kun?"

The corners of Akira's lips quirked down. Rather than disapproval though, thoughtful amusement broadened all over his face. He must have not expected her to use his name like that. "That is correct." He confirmed while reaching into his pocket. "But rather continue our conversation out here, how about we step inside?" He gestured with a single jerk of his head towards the door that led to the house.

"That sounds like a lovely idea." Haruka agreed with his suggestion.

At least so far Akira was being a polite boy. That was hopefully a sign of good things to come. Hope is the key word in that previous sentence. One could never be too careful when it came to people. That was something basic when it came to surviving through the training of a shinobi. You never know what anyone could be hiding, whether it be physical or mental.

Following the boy up the flight of stairs that led to the front door, Haruka only watched him fish keys out of his pocket. Putting the metal inside the small slot, Akira opened the door and stepped to the side. He even performed a small flourish and bow. "Ladies first." He offered, a small smile of courtesy growing on his lips.

Haruka's amusement grew once more as she stepped inside. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to pay full attention and accidentally tripped over the bottom frame of the door. Thankfully, Akira caught her swiftly.

"Catching me as I fall?" Haruka asked with a tired grin. "Such a gentleman."

"Surely it's not just you are swooning over me?" Akira played the game she had started upon instinct, causing her amusement to grow even more as he helped her back up and she was inside.

That amusement turned into amazement at the interior decorating. She had to say, she held a small bit of soft spot for anything Victorian mainly due to her past. Despite her background, she found such decorations still calming to this day.

"I will admit, I did not expect the inside to be like this." Haruka found herself saying aloud. "Though my first clue should have been the design of the building outside."

"Yeah, my relatives have been a fan of many cultures. European appeared to be around the top of that list for some reason. Apparently one of my ancestors was French… or was it Italian?" Akira revealed, closing the door behind him and taking his shoes off. "Either way, it is refreshing to look at after passing through the streets of Japan."

"Oh, does that mean you aren't full Japanese, Kurusu-kun?" Haruka asked taking off her shoes as well.

Akira shook his head back and forth while turning around and started walking while beckoning her to follow. "If the math is correct, I'm technically supposed to be 1/16th European, though I have grown up in Japan my entire life. But I believe the subject we should be discussing should be science, not history."

Haruka followed Akira down the hall and down a flight of stairs that led to a lower floor. "Yes, your tutoring." She rubbed a tiny bit of sleep from her eyes.

"Correct." Akira's eyes lingered on her own as he nodded his head, turning to the right and entering a dining room and kitchen. Haruka watched him move over towards the cupboard. "Would you like something to drink?"

Perfect. She needed something to keep her going. "Some tea if you don't mind. Something strong please. I didn't get much sleep last night." Haruka requested, causing Akira to begin rummaging through the area. "So, you are having trouble with high-school chemistry then?"

"That is correct." Akira was already beginning to steam some water up and took out a small container of leaves. "Third-year to be much more precise, as I have previously stated during our call. Have you had any previous experiences with tutoring?"

"Yes, I have tutored multiple subjects with a few people." What she said was technically true. While at Hebijo, she did help everyone with their studies. Then again, they also helped her in turn if she had questions.

"Did all of them work out?" Akira asked, scooping the leaves into a tea strainer before going back to the water that had already heated up.

Just as Haruka was about to answer, her gaze had met Akira's when he turned his head. His grey eyes made her stop however. She was about to say that she had no problems at all, thinking about ignoring her previous session with that one student. But the lie died in her throat. The stare from the boy was assessing whether she was going to lie and it unnerved her for some reason.

Being able to do that… That was not normal. Especially from a normal civilian.

Or was that the lack of sleep taking effect?

But her silence seemed to give him an answer causing him to sigh and pour hot water through the strainer into a mug. "Should I be worried about what happened?"

"It was just my most recent session." Haruka defended herself, folding her arms. "All I did was try to help motivate the student to study better, but he got distracted and it was apparently my fault."

Akira walked over and handed the mug towards the blonde. "And how exactly were you motivating this boy?" He asked curiously.

Haruka shrugged his shoulders. "All I did was open my shirt a little."

"…"

When Akira didn't say anything even after she took her mug, she admitted she did not expect such a reaction. She expected a blush at least or even a cry of disbelief. Sleep depravity or none, she wasn't exactly embarrassed of her words. She was a beautiful lady and she was proud of it.

Taking a sip of the tea, she sighed in bliss. This be able to keep her going.

All he did… was stare at her eyes. As if he were still processing her words. For a second, his eyes trailed down to her chest but immediately snapped back up to her face. They then lingered and narrowed while he was leaning forward a bit. It appeared to be as if he were trying to tell whether she was joking or not.

"…I see." Akira finally said before turning around on his feet. "Well, I don't need any kind of incentive like that just to let you know." He let her know before walking forward and opening the double doors at the other side of the room. "I did redecorate recently so please don't be too harsh if you see… anything strange."

Well that reaction was sort of disappointing to her.

Haruka followed once again and took in the sight of the room. Judging by how there was at least a bed and desk inside, she assumed for this place to be a bedroom. What she did not expect though were decorations ranging from interesting bracelets and anklets to rings all presented out in a single column of display cases around the corner of the room. While a majority of these looked like they were bought off street vendors and regular stores, there were a small handful that look as if they were genuine treasures. Did that mean Akira at least flaunted his wealth? If so, why not wear them instead of keeping them locked up?

Unless he obtained those so-called treasures through darker means.

"Right, shall we begin?" Akira asked, breaking Haruka out of her observation.

A loud slam caused her to jump a bit as she snapped her head over. Apparently, Akira had unceremoniously dropped his notebook and textbook onto his desk. Judging by the small playful grin on his face, he did it on purpose. He then seated himself and opened what he needed help on.

Shaking her head at the event that had just happened, she smiled. Once again, she was reminded that this boy at least had an amusing personality and walked over to begin helping him with what he needed.

Time passed between the two of them. The more Haruka pointed things out and tutored Akira, he slowly began to understand it better. She was positive that Akira would be able to learn fast enough. She didn't even have to do anything to help motivate him. The boy proved to be a hard and obedient worker, one of the kind of people she liked.

But while the tutoring continued, she noticed a few things notes and questions. These inquiries caused her to think.

It then gave her some ideas.

She heard a doorbell ring soon after.

Haruka turned her head up towards the ceiling to where she thought the front door was. Looking back down, she saw that Akira was staring up towards the ceiling as well. Pulling out his phone, he pressed a button at the back and lit the screen up.

"Hm, six o'clock already." Akira said aloud, putting the device back into his pocket. Standing up while stretching, he turned towards Haruka. "Thank you for helping me out with my schoolwork."

"Oh, are we ending already?" Haruka asked. Though she didn't show it, the lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll once again. The medication effects wore off. The caffeine in the tea had stopped working.

Akira confirmed her question with a nod of his head. "When going over the work with you, you made it a lot easier to understand." He answered. "Would you mind if I called you in the future later? I feel as though I will need more help when the time comes."

She gave a small, fatigued smile. "Of course. Technically, much to my dismay, I am having trouble with money recently and I can't seem to hold a job properly." Haruka pretended to be distressed, hoping that Akira could possibly pity her and hold another session with her as soon as possible. "Please call me soon… I would love to hold another private session with you."

Akira smiled, though she felt as though it was not for the reasons she had intended. "You remind me of someone I've met recently with money troubles. Either way, how does tomorrow sound? It's a day off school for me but I have plans with a couple of other people, so it will have to be the same time as today. Oh, speaking of which…" He reached walked over towards his school bag and pulled out a wallet. "Today was a lot better than expected, so I'll be giving you 7500 yen instead of 5000."

The blonde found herself a bit surprised at the boy's generosity. But still, she accepted the increase with a smile. Money was money after all. "Thank you so much!" She amplified her cheer a bit grabbing his head and giving him a quick embrace. Haruka enjoyed the surprised sound Akira made when she pressed his face into her chest for a second before releasing him. "You know how to make a girl feel happy! I'll be seeing you tomorrow then!"

Akira stepped back and cleared his throat. "Ye-yes." He coughed a bit. "Let's head back upstairs then. I still do have to answer the door after all."

The two of them then went out of the bedroom and up the stairs towards the front door. As soon as Haruka was putting on her shoes, the doorbell rang once again.

"Just a second!" Akira called out before turning back to her. "See you tomorrow then, Haruka-san."

"Of course, Kurusu-kun."

As Akira opened the door, Haruka was already facing the outside. Surprise filled her within seconds. In front of her, Yomi was standing in place and holding a couple of large, empty containers. "Yomi?" The older blonde questioned.

"Haruka?" Yomi asked back, taken aback as well at her ally's appearance.

Looking back, Haruka saw that Akira's eyes were shifting between both girls. "…You two know each other?" He eventually asked.

Haruka and Yomi didn't know how to properly respond at first. "That's my question as well." The two females said at the same time, giving each other a strange look at the perfectly timed answer.

"Yomi and I are friends." Haruka easily stated, going first. Such an answer was simple yet explained a lot at the same time so he shouldn't question it any further. "How did you happen to meet her anyways?"

"Simple, she answered a small posting that I had up to hep clean my house. Apparently she had also taken an interest in the curry I made as well as massages. So she comes over to learn if she whenever she chooses to." Akira explained, eyeing the items in Yomi's hands. "Though it looks like she finally remembered to bring the containers back."

So that curry that Yomi had unexpectedly brought back to their hideout that one day was made by Akira. A detail Haruka shouldn't reveal or else Akira would be asking more questions. "Well, I'll see you again tomorrow then for another tutoring session, Kurusu-kun." She smiled as Yomi passed the containers back to Akira.

"Until we meet again, Haruka-san." Akira nodded towards before returning the same gesture to Yomi. "And thank you for returning the containers. Yomi-san."

"My pleasure." Yomi replied politely. Haruka noticed that she wasn't wearing a mask and was sincere with her words. "I'm starting to get a good idea of the techniques for both cooking and massages thanks to you as well."

"You say that every time." He shook his head with amusement. "Well, I won't keep you both here any longer. Good night."

With those parting words he closed the door.

Looking at each other, Haruka and Yomi began walking down the streets.

"…You seem to get along with Kurusu-kun pretty well." Haruka said aloud suddenly as the two of them eventually were out of town.

"Yes, even I find myself surprised." Yomi admitted. "Tomorrow, he and I are shopping for ingredients for another cooking session. He even says that if there are leftovers that he will let me have them."

A teasing smile grew on Haruka's lips. "Oh? Already going on a date with him?"

For a few seconds, Yomi didn't say anything. Keeping an eye on the younger shinobi, Haruka saw as Yomi soon began to grow a small blush after realizing what she was implying. "N-n-no, that's not it at all!" She denied. "He just happened to have free time when I asked him if he could teach me some more about making curry and such!"

"Don't forget the addition of massages." Haruka's words only caused Yomi's cheeks to grow even redder. "Tell me, how do his hands feel when he's trying to show you where to rub? Or do you enjoy straddling him when trying it out?"

As she continued teasing the younger shinobi, that meant that her mind was staying on Akira. With that done, thoughts drifted back towards the chemistry work she had to help him through.

That's right… his questions had her possibly come up with a solution to her new concoction.

"Speaking of trying, have you gotten any sleep yet?"

Yomi's question caused Haruka to shrug her shoulders. "Of course I have. Do you not trust me to do a simple enough task?"

"So that's a no then." Yomi frowned. "Haruka, I know how… passionate you can get when it comes to your little projects. But your health is still a priority."

The older shinobi smiled. "Your concern is noted, Yomi. There's no need to worry though. I should be done soon."

**SmokeBombBreak**

This was going to take longer than expected.

She was close. She was so close thanks to the questions Akira had provided for her.

Sighing in frustration while looking at the rats that had been victim to her experiments, she rubbed her eyes. One would argue that she would get better results if she slept. She would argue back that sleeping would be a waste of time when it could have been spent completing work.

Checking her phone, she saw that it was already the afternoon of the next day once again.

Footsteps approached her from behind. "Another all-nighter? Seriously?"

Haruka sighed when she heard Homura's voice. "Don't tell me you're here to scold me as well."

"All right, I won't tell you that." Homura replied, coming into sight from the corner of her eye with a frown. "But you do need to get your sleep. Your health is at risk here. If you're not healthy, you become vulnerable to the enemy. Not only that, but you also are unable to work your job properly…" She went silent for about a second. "You do have a job right now, yes?"

"I do." Haruka answered curtly, already mixing a new concoction in a beaker. "I technically have a shift today."

"Tell me the address and what time you start." Homura stated. "I'll take over for you. Meanwhile, you get some rest."

She was tired, and her leader was getting on Haruka's nerves a bit. "I'm fine. Plus, I doubt you can teach the person I'm tutoring third-year chemistry. Especially since you haven't taken the subject yet." Homura slightly growled at Haruka's attitude. "Follow your own advice and get some rest. Maybe even relax a bit. We may be renegades, but it's the weekend. Workers also need to take breaks too you know."

"Hypocrisy at its finest." Homura grumbled.

Eventually, Haruka heard Homura walk away. Looks like the tanned girl didn't want to bother wasting any energy convincing Haruka. Or maybe she knew there was no point in arguing any longer. Either way, good.

Changing back into her casual clothing once again, she began to go towards Akira's house.

She had to teach the boy a lesson after all. Plus, if she was lucky, he would be able to teach her some new things as well.

**SmokeBombBreak**

"Haruka-sama, what are you doing here?"

Already in less that 24 hours, Haruka found herself a bit surprised once again around Akira's home. When she had rung the doorbell, she had expected the boy to be the one to answer the door. She was even looking forward to another cup of tea. Whatever he had brewed was some pretty good stuff.

Instead, she had found Mirari standing in front of her with the door open. What added to Haruka's surprise however was Morgana being draped over her head. Mirai was even acting like it wasn't that big of a deal. The sight was… certainly entertaining to say the least.

"I am here to tutor Kurusu-kun. What about you, Mirai-chan? What are you doing here?" Haruka asked curiously as her fellow shinobi stepped out of the way for her to come inside.

"Kurusu-san said that I could come over anytime I wanted as long as he was free." Mirai revealed as Haruka took off her shoes. "Let me guess. You're wondering how I met him." Haruka shook her head with an amused smile. It was cute that Mirai sometime knew her. "Well, Yomi-san told me that Kurusu-san was looking for someone to help clean his model guns. In the end… some stuff happened, and we managed to get along extremely well."

"Oh, does that mean you are Yomi's rival?" Haruka questioned, her smile growing even larger. "It seems both of you are close with Kurusu-kun."

It took a few seconds, but the black-haired girl eventually understood what Haruka was implying. "Hah?! What?!" Mirai jumped, causing Morgana to meow and fall off her head. "N-no. No! It's not like that at all, Haruka-sama!" She protested, causing the blonde to laugh aloud. But as Haruka laughed, Mirai noticed something. "…Haruka-sama, you didn't get sleep last night either, did you?"

"…" She slowly fell silent when she realized how Mirai was feeling. She rubbed her the younger girl's head as Mirai had bent down to pick up the cat. "Your concern is appreciated, Mirai-chan. But don't worry. I'm…" She yawned. "I'm fine…"

"…" Mirai frowned, clearly not convinced by her answer. Still, she turned around. "Kurusu-san is downstairs showing Yomi how to make curry and coffee… Kind of a weird combination if you ask me." With those words, the black-haired shinobi scampered downstairs.

Oh, Yomi was here as well. Well, Akira did mention spending the day with a couple of people before she would arrive. It looked to be that both Yomi and Mirai were those people then.

Slowly following her companion, Haruka felt a slight dizzy spell suddenly occur. The world spun for just a second, but it was more than enough to throw her off balance. Stumbling forward, she pressed her hand against the wall to catch herself while clutching her head.

Panting, her eyelids were getting a bit heavy. Reaching into her pocket, she found a small bottle filled with some more pills. Opening it up and swallowing a couple more of the tiny medication, she shook her head and continued down the hall and turning towards the stairs.

Downstairs and in the kitchen, she saw Mirai sitting in a chair and kicking her legs around and her chin resting on the table with the cat in front of her face. Akira was keeping an eye on a siphon while working on what seemed to be coffee. Yomi meanwhile was… dry patting beansprouts which she then proceeded to dump into what looked like curry.

"Remember to mix it all in well and then simmer, Yomi-san." Akira said idly, checking the watch on his left hand. "If there's a crunch in that curry then it a serious problem."

"Right!" Yomi nodded her head, using a ladle to stir everything together and putting the lid on top. Turning around, she blinked. "Ah, Haruka."

Stilling checking his watch for a second longer, Akira turned around and nodded. "Right on time." He greeted. "Yomi-san, maybe you can try out my massage techniques on Mirai-san inside the bedroom you had borrowed your first day here. It would be good to get an opinion from someone else after all."

The younger blonde looked between Akira and Haruka. "…Oh!" She made a sound as if she realized something. "Sure thing. Come on, Mirai. I'll be sure to make you feel good!" She then walked out of the room and up the stairs."

Mirai also looked between the two taller people in the kitchen. "Coming!" She called out before following Yomi.

As the two of them watched Mirai leave, Akira held his arm out towards his room. "You can go on ahead into my room. I have the material set-up and you can look over it. I just need a couple more minutes to finish the coffee."

"Sure thing." Haruka nodded her head. "Oh, would it be okay to have another cup of tea as well? The leaves you used yesterday would be perfect?" Seeing him nod his head in response, she then proceeded by walking into Akira's room and seeing a notebook open on the desk.

It didn't take long for Akira to come walking in with two mugs. Taking a sniff as Akira handed one of them over to her, she blinked. "I thought I asked for tea."

"Well, you asked for tea, but you got coffee." Akira shrugged his shoulders while taking a small sip. "I did make a fresh batch and had a feeling that you wanted something with caffeine due to requesting the same tea yesterday… Unless you do want that same tea instead."

"Oh, no worries. Coffee is a wonderful surprise." Haruka said as she took a sip herself.

…Oh, that was delicious. Perhaps the best cup in her life so far.

Bringing the mug to her lips again, she heard a cry of surprise. Turning around, she saw that Akira was also looking over towards the source. Standing right in the center of the kitchen, holding Morgana in her arms, was Mirai looking shocked at the display of a drink in Haruka's hands.

Mirai sniffed slowly. "…Kurusu-san… is that… the coffee that you just made?" As if she were surprised, she sluggishly questioned Akira while keeping her eyes on Haruaka. "Is Haruka-sama drink the coffee you just made?!"

"Yes, that is correct." Akira answered nonchalantly.

That answer caused Mirai to have a reaction that Haruka didn't expect. Of all the things to do, Mirai stomped on the floor so her feet were shoulder-width apart. "Kurusu-san, you idiot!" She screamed loudly before sprinting out of the kitchen and her footsteps swiftly moved up the stairs.

Now Haruka was stunned. Taking a look at Akira out of the corner of her eye, she once again found herself surprised at how stoic he was reacting. As he turned his head, he must have known what she was thinking because he gestured towards the desk with his free arm. "Take a seat. I'll explain why Mirai-san reacted that way."

Taking another sip, she wondered why the coffee wasn't taking as much effect as she expected. Did he use decaf? No, he mentioned something about her wanting caffeine in her drink and he gave her this instead of tea.

Slipping down into one of the chairs next to the desk, Akira shortly mimicked her action so that they were facing each other. "It's been a while since I've seen Mirai-san be truly angry with someone." Haruka revealed, holding the warm mug and drinking more of the dark liquid.

"She has a right to be, considering how concerned she and Yomi-san are with your health."

Haruka stopped mid-sip upon hearing those words. Swallowing the coffee in her mouth, she sighed and put the mug to the side on the desk. "So they told you about my sleeping habits recently."

"More like lack of sleeping habits." Akira folded his arms and leaned back into his chair.

That made Haruka raise a delicate eyebrow. Not very high though as her eyes were getting a bit heavier than usual as of late. "If you are aware of this, then why give me coffee?" She questioned. "Why not just send me back home and tell me to get some rest?"

"If I sent you back home, you would just immediately go back to doing whatever little project that Mirari-san and Yomi-san said that you have been working on lately." He explained his thought process. "As for the coffee, there is always that crashing moment after the stimulating period. Plus, you did say that you needed the money."

…That… was strange of him to answer. She appreciated his explanation, but she still found it… What was the word she used before again? Her mind was clouding up for some reason.

She took another quick sip of coffee.

"I'm curious though." Akira continued. "What exactly are you working on that requires you to stay up for consecutive days?"

Putting the mug back down, she wagged her finger. "Sorry Kurusu-kun, but never ask a girl…" She trailed off, losing her train of thought. "Never ask a girl…" Blinking several times, she felt something was extremely off. "Never ask a girl…"

She was incredibly drowsy suddenly. Trying to reach over and grab the coffee, something came to her blurry mind when she felt her fingers wrap around the porcelain. The coffee should have been taking effect sooner or later, not be making her sleepy.

Groggily, she looked up and saw Akira sitting in his chair and leaning forward with a looking like he had just discovered something new.

Because of this, Haruka came to one conclusion. This thought was rather disturbing to her.

"…You drugged me."

Akira nodded his head. "Honestly, I'm surprised that it works when diges- holy shi-!"

In a last-ditch effort before blacking out, Haruka lunged for Akira's neck.

**SmokeBombBreak**

Groaning, Haruka squirmed in the futon she was laying in.

…Futon?

Bolting upright while pushing off the covers, she darted her eyes around to see that she was in her room. Well, more like her section of the hideout. When did she get here anyways? That last thing she remember was…

That's right… Akira had drugged her…

Quickly looking over herself, she found out that nothing out of the ordinary had been down to her. This only served to confuse her. As well it making feel like her stomach was empty.

Hearing a small gasp, Haruka looked up to see Yomi quickly jogging over towards her. "You're awake, Haruka!"

"Yes…" Haruka slowly replied. "Yomi, what time is it?"

"Four o'clock in the afternoon."

That answer only brought more confusion to Haruka. Yomi must have guess this as well due to the expression the older shinobi had on her face. "Tuesday." Yomi clarified. "You've been asleep for a couple of days now."

"…That's why I'm so hungry…" Haruka said in realization.

In response, Yomi spun around on her heels. "Just wait a moment, I'll grab you some of the curry I made with Kurusu-san."

As the younger girl dashed off, Haruka simply continued to look around the hideout. It was… rather surreal to her to have blacked out in a stranger's house to only wake up in her own bed.

Speaking of blacking out in a stranger's house…

What did Akira use to put her to sleep? It wasn't the usual kind of sleeping pills or tranquilizer one used. She would have distinguished the taste and immediately stop drinking that coffee if that was the case. What were those words that he said as well?

He was surprised that it worked when digested, correct? Did that mean this was a special mixture that belonged to him that was supposed to be inhaled or something? Digesting meant swallowing so there was no way it was meant to be consumed. What about injected? Needles would be too suspicious though-

"Haruka, is everything okay?"

As a wonderful smell entered her nose, her thoughts were broken as she saw that Yomi was holding out a bowl that was filled with curry and rice. "Ah, yes, everything is fine." Haruka smiled to reassure Yomi that she was okay while taking the bowl and a spoon. Before she could scoop her meal though, she had to ask. "Yomi, could you please explain to me what had happened at Kurusu-kun's house before I woke up?"

"Oh, that's simple. We took you home." Yomi answered. "Kurusu-san said you fell asleep on the spot. Mirai was accusing his statement to be false due to you drinking coffee. He easily debunked that theory though by saying that the coffee he made was actually decaf due to us explaining your sleeping situation earlier."

…That last part wasn't true. Haruka clearly remembered him reacting like she would when completing an experiment after she accused him of drugging her.

Before she could talk though, Yomi put a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "Kurusu-san also told me to pass on a message to you." She said, looking at her fellow shinobi dead in the eyes. "He said that if you don't get your rest, you will generate poorer results. It's Heath 101! If you're having any problems with your little project, it's also good to take a break rather that constantly stress over it. Also, he's looking forward to another tutoring session from you when you have free time."

Nodding her head, Yomi acted like her job was done and marched away from Haruka to leave the girl in peace.

Sitting on her futon alone, Haruka blinked. First drugging her, and then scolding her… What a character, despite the suspicious actions he had taken. Not only that, but also being a well of inspiration… Shaking her head, she for some reason couldn't help but smile at how strange Akira was.

That naughty boy…

She was definitely going to have to properly educate him later for all of this…

**Yes, it's been a couple of months. No, I'm not dead. It's just that I have friends, family, a job, moments of opportunity to try find a career to only get a phone call or email a couple of weeks later saying that I don't have enough experience (which how the hell am I suppose to get if I don't get hired in that field and you place the damn bar too high (seriously, 3-5 years for an apprentice, what the fuck). I have been busy. I'm sorry that I cannot cater to your wants of a new chapter of this or other fanfics. **

**Not only that, but do you realize how tough it is for us writers to not only write chapters, but also be happy with them and believe they make sense? You can say "Oh, it can't be that bad", but as a writer I won't know because I'm too close to it. I can't tell if it's good or not. I'm not talking about those "Oh, I'm going to have to copy all of this dialogue from the script of the show/game scene/s and throw in some character dialogue from this series to make it a crossover" kind of writing (even if I have done that in the past and still do to this day).**

**We writers (I like to believe) have a concern that our chapters or stories are like ugly babies we're looking at through the eyes of loving parents. And it's not until we take them out in their little strollers and people just start screaming in horror and crossing the street to avoid us that we'll realize that we made a piece of shit baby.**

**With humor in person and I tell a terrible joke and no one laughs, I stop telling that joke. But with a new chapter, I won't know that it's terrible until it's out there on the internet and I get reviews telling me what people like and hate about it.**

**Hopefully you all can tell, I did not have a fun time writing this chapter. Nor did I feel very happy when recently seeing a Guest go "It's been two 2 fucking months for fucks sake did you die?" I don't care what your intentions were. I don't care that you're a Guest. I don't care you're a Guest hiding behind being anonymous. I don't care you're a Guest because you're too "lazy" to make a proper account. Take a vacation to Antarctica and chill the fuck out.**

**I write fanfics because I want to at least bring a bit of enjoyment to people. Give them a small moment of escapism to those reading my stories. Hopefully even inspire them to try and write their own stories and come up with their own ideas. Not because it's my duty.**

**Which is why I hate people who use and get people to "donate" to them so they can "keep creating" their stories. Fanfiction is a hobby, not a job. If you want a job like that, become a writer and get paid when you create an actual book.**

**This is why I refuse to make a account or anything asking for money to continue writing.**

**Sorry for the rant and going all over the place. Now will be working on Recovery.**

**No flames please.**


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